A Texas family used Claude to research cottage food rules, name the business, scale recipes and work out costs, ChatGPT for rough logos and Canva for the final branding. They were ready in 18 days and priced loaves at $11 against a calculated cost of $3.47.
I want to start a [TYPE OF FOOD BUSINESS] from home in [COUNTRY/REGION]. 1) What rules, registrations and labelling requirements should I check? 2) Help me cost [PRODUCT]: ingredients [LIST WITH PRICES], packaging, time and overheads. 3) Suggest a price based on a [TARGET MARGIN] margin and local prices of [COMPETITOR PRICES].
A Toronto Etsy seller whose shop made about $347,000 in a year uses ChatGPT for prompts like '10 punny, short T-shirt ideas about scuba diving', and asks Gemini, which can search Google in real time, what phrases are trending for sweatshirts.
Write me 10 punny, short T-shirt slogans about [NICHE, E.G. SCUBA DIVING]. Keep each under six words and avoid trademarked phrases. Then, separately: what styles and phrases are trending for [PRODUCT] in [MONTH YEAR]?
A ZDNET writer set up a print-on-demand Etsy shop in under a week, using ChatGPT to brainstorm slogans, product names and descriptions that he then edited heavily. He's candid that sales were poor and ChatGPT didn't help with Etsy SEO.
Write 20 [TONE, E.G. WITTY] slogans for a shop called [SHOP NAME] that sells [PRODUCTS]. Then write a product description for [PRODUCT] covering [MATERIALS, SIZES, CARE] in a [STYLE] voice, under 150 words.
Starting her own business, one user asked Grok to explain the elements of a good business plan.
I'm starting [TYPE OF BUSINESS] in [LOCATION]. Explain the essential sections of a good business plan in plain English, what each section should answer, and the common mistakes beginners make. Then ask me questions, one section at a time, to help me draft mine.
One small-business owner says ChatGPT has helped a lot with brainstorming content ideas and strategies to grow the business.
I run [BUSINESS] in [TOWN], selling [PRODUCTS/SERVICES] to [CUSTOMERS]. Brainstorm 20 social media post ideas for the next month: a mix of behind-the-scenes, tips, customer stories and offers. For each, give a one-line hook and the best platform for it.
One small-business owner had to match sales records against bank transactions. Claude Code helped track who owed what, turning hours of combing through transactions and invoices into a job done in minutes.
Here are two files: my sales/invoices [PASTE OR UPLOAD, WITH CUSTOMER NAMES ANONYMISED IF YOU PREFER] and my bank transactions for the same period [PASTE OR UPLOAD]. Match payments to invoices, list unpaid or partly paid invoices with amounts, and flag any bank payments you can't match.
One Etsy seller combined eRank data with ChatGPT to audit her shop. One recommendation was to split her wristlet listings by colour and tighten the descriptions: a small change to improve what already exists.
Here are my Etsy shop details: [PASTE 3-5 LISTING TITLES, DESCRIPTIONS AND TAGS] and keyword data from [TOOL, E.G. ERANK]: [PASTE]. Audit them like an experienced Etsy consultant. Tell me what to change in titles, descriptions and tags, whether any listings should be split or combined, and the three changes likely to make the biggest difference.
One crafter asked ChatGPT to create an amigurumi crochet pattern for a Siamese cat, planning to follow it and share the results.
Create a beginner-friendly amigurumi crochet pattern for a [ANIMAL/CHARACTER], about [SIZE] tall, using [YARN WEIGHT] yarn and a [HOOK SIZE] hook. Use standard UK (or US) terms, list materials, and give round-by-round instructions with stitch counts for each part.
For their producer's birthday, one music group had ChatGPT write the lyrics and Suno create the music, making him a birthday song in a minor key to suit his personality.
Write lyrics for a short birthday song for [NAME]. About them: [PERSONALITY, IN-JOKES, HOBBIES]. Style: [GENRE AND MOOD]. Two short verses and a catchy chorus that uses their name. Keep it kind; nothing they'd be embarrassed by.
One maid of honour had Claude help write her speech, then used ElevenLabs text-to-speech to hear what it would sound like spoken aloud.
Help me write a [OCCASION] speech of about [MINUTES] minutes. Details: [PEOPLE, STORIES, TONE]. Mark natural pauses with '/' and put any line I should slow down on in capitals, so it's easy to read aloud.
Two days before his brother's wedding, one best man wrote his speech with ChatGPT's help and was delighted with the result.
Help me write a [BEST MAN/MAID OF HONOUR] speech, about [MINUTES] minutes long. About the couple: [NAMES, HOW THEY MET, WHAT THEY'RE LIKE]. My stories: [2-3 STORIES OR MEMORIES]. Tone: [E.G. WARM AND FUNNY, NOTHING EMBARRASSING IN FRONT OF GRANDPARENTS]. Structure it with an opening, stories, a heartfelt bit and a toast.
One everyday user says he gets ChatGPT to reword all his emails professionally. He even had a friend who couldn't work out how to delete his Amazon account use it for step-by-step instructions.
Rewrite this email so it sounds professional, friendly and clear, keeping it about the same length and keeping all the facts: [PASTE DRAFT]. Then give me a shorter version too.
One researcher tried Claude in Microsoft Word for a research report. It fixed his footnotes, found sources and helped him draft arguments.
In this document, check every footnote for consistent formatting in [STYLE, E.G. CHICAGO/HARVARD] and fix them. Then, for the claims I've marked [CITATION NEEDED], suggest credible sources with links so I can verify them.
On Hacker News, one user who's often away from their computer starts a temporary ChatGPT chat, dictates their thoughts, and asks it to repeat them back cleaned up without changing the content, then pastes the result into their notes app.
Take the following dictation and repeat it back to me without adding anything. Don't change the meaning; just fix punctuation, remove filler words and split it into paragraphs. [START TALKING]
On Hacker News, one worker said his company's weekly update format is a pain, so he keeps notes through the week and sends them to a custom GPT that writes the update in the required template. He spends about ten minutes tidying it, saving a couple of hours.
Turn these rough notes from my week into a weekly update using exactly this template: [PASTE TEMPLATE]. Notes: [PASTE NOTES]. Keep it factual, don't add anything that isn't in my notes, and flag any section where I haven't given you enough information.
On Hacker News, a daily Copilot user said it takes the tedium out of routine office work: writing boring reports and memos to an acceptable standard and finding a single key fact in a long document without skim-reading it.
Using [DOCUMENT NAME], answer this: [SPECIFIC QUESTION]. Quote the relevant passage and give the page or section. Then draft a short memo to [AUDIENCE] summarising the answer in under 200 words.
One user had ChatGPT write an Excel formula for a billing file he fills in every month, saving him two to three hours of manual work each time.
In Excel, I have [DESCRIBE COLUMNS, E.G. COLUMN A: DATE, B: CLIENT, C: HOURS]. I want [WHAT YOU WANT, E.G. TOTAL HOURS PER CLIENT FOR LAST MONTH IN COLUMN F]. Write the formula, explain each part in plain English, and tell me how to copy it down safely.
One user said Microsoft Copilot took a 400,000-line Excel file and a single ten-word prompt and saved him three hours.
In this data, [QUESTION, E.G. WHICH 10 CUSTOMERS HAD THE BIGGEST DROP IN ORDERS THIS YEAR VS LAST?]. Show the result as a table and explain how you worked it out.
One lawyer had Microsoft Copilot read and summarise a Teams conversation, pulled the drafting instructions out of the summary and, after 20 minutes of editing, reckoned it had saved at least five hours of drafting.
Summarise this Teams conversation: [CHAT OR CHANNEL NAME]. List the decisions made, the instructions given to me, any deadlines, and open questions. Then turn the instructions into a numbered checklist I can work from.
A consultant's main CV advice to one jobseeker was to paste the job listing and CV into ChatGPT and ask it to reword the CV to get past automated filters. The jobseeker found that advice demoralising, so treat it as a tool, not a substitute for your own judgement.
Here's a job advert: [PASTE]. Here's my CV: [PASTE]. Show me which requirements in the advert my CV already covers, which are missing or buried, and suggest honest rewording of my existing experience to match the advert's language. Don't invent skills or experience I haven't listed.
Instead of her partner awkwardly playing interviewer, one jobseeker gave Claude the job description, a link to the company's website and her CV, then did a mock interview. She went in far better prepared and got the offer.
You're interviewing me for this role. Job description: [PASTE]. Company website: [LINK OR ABOUT TEXT]. My CV: [PASTE]. Ask me one question at a time, mixing competency, role-specific and tricky questions. After each answer, give brief feedback and a stronger example answer using my real experience. Finish with my three biggest areas to improve.
A university student with ADHD says ChatGPT has helped hugely by breaking assignments into steps, so they can work out what the task is asking and what to do at each stage.
Here's my assignment brief: [PASTE BRIEF]. It's due on [DATE]. Explain in plain English what it's really asking me to do. Then break it into small steps (no step longer than [MINUTES] minutes), in order, with a suggested day for each. Don't write any of the assignment for me.