Act as an analytical business consultant helping me decide [DECISION TO MAKE] for [COMPANY AND BUSINESS MODEL]. Our current situation is [CURRENT STATE AND EVIDENCE]. The objective, deadline, and success measures are [OBJECTIVE AND CONSTRAINTS]. The options already under consideration are [OPTIONS], and the stakeholders or risks that matter are [STAKEHOLDERS AND RISKS]. Use only the information I provide and clearly labeled general business principles. Do not invent market size, customer research, pricing benchmarks, competitor actions, financial results, legal requirements, or implementation capacity. If a recommendation depends on missing data, say exactly what needs validating and how it could change the decision. Produce a 900-1,200 word decision memo with: 1. Executive recommendation: one clear recommendation in 100 words or fewer, including the condition under which I should not proceed. 2. Decision framing: objective, decision owner, time horizon, constraints, and the one or two assumptions most likely to change the answer. 3. Root-cause analysis: separate observed facts from hypotheses; use a simple issue tree or causal chain where useful. 4. Option comparison table: for each option, cover expected upside, cost or effort, key risks, reversibility, dependencies, and evidence strength. 5. Recommendation and rationale: explain why this option wins against the alternatives, including the trade-off I am accepting. 6. First 30 days: five sequenced actions, one accountable role per action, a leading indicator, and a decision checkpoint. 7. Validation plan: list the three highest-value unanswered questions and a low-cost way to answer each. Before answering, check that your recommendation follows from the evidence rather than confident-sounding assumptions. Also flag any material financial, legal, tax, HR, or regulatory issue that needs qualified professional advice. Ask up to 3 clarifying questions only if a required input is missing.
Fill in
| Placeholder | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| [DECISION TO MAKE] | State the specific decision you need to make, including the scope and timing. | Decide whether to add a self-serve monthly plan before the end of Q4 or keep sales-led annual contracts only. |
| [COMPANY AND BUSINESS MODEL] | Describe the company, customers, revenue model, size, and relevant market context. | B2B software company with 18 employees selling workflow tools to operations teams at 100-500 person companies; annual contracts average $18,000. |
| [CURRENT STATE AND EVIDENCE] | Provide the facts, metrics, customer feedback, and operating context available today. | Revenue is $1.6M ARR. Sales cycles average 72 days. Twelve prospects in the last quarter asked for a lower-commitment entry plan; support handles about 40 tickets per week. |
| [OBJECTIVE AND CONSTRAINTS] | State the desired outcome, deadline, budget, team capacity, and non-negotiable limits. | Increase qualified pipeline without adding headcount; product and billing work can take six engineer-weeks; target is a decision by November 15. |
| [OPTIONS] | List the realistic options, including doing nothing if that is a real alternative. | Launch a $299 monthly self-serve plan, run a limited pilot with manual onboarding, or retain annual-only pricing and improve the sales trial. |
| [STAKEHOLDERS AND RISKS] | Name the decision owner, affected groups, dependencies, and risks that deserve attention. | CEO owns the decision; sales worries about cannibalization, engineering is committed to reliability work, and finance needs predictable cash flow. |
How to use
- State one decision rather than asking for a general business plan.
- Paste the raw metrics and customer evidence you have, including inconvenient facts and data gaps.
- Check the option table for assumptions that need an owner and a validation date.
- Follow up with: "Convert the 30-day plan into a weekly operating checklist for the CEO, product lead, and sales lead."
Variations
Pricing decision
Use this when choosing a price, packaging, or discounting approach.
Analyze this pricing decision: [PRICING DECISION] for [PRODUCT AND CUSTOMER]. Current prices, conversion data, retention data, and customer feedback are [EVIDENCE]. Constraints are [CONSTRAINTS], and options are [OPTIONS]. Produce a decision memo with a pricing hypothesis, customer segments affected, value metric fit, revenue and margin implications using only supplied numbers, risks of discounting or complexity, and a controlled test design. Do not invent willingness-to-pay or market benchmarks. State which missing data would reverse the recommendation and flag tax, contract, or consumer-law questions for qualified review.
Go-to-market plan
Use this when selecting a channel or launch approach for a defined offer.
Recommend a 90-day go-to-market plan for [OFFER] aimed at [TARGET CUSTOMER]. Our evidence is [CURRENT EVIDENCE], available resources are [TEAM AND BUDGET], and candidate channels are [CHANNEL OPTIONS]. Return a prioritized channel thesis, target-account or audience definition, message tests, weekly activities, funnel measures, owner roles, and stop-or-scale thresholds. Explain the trade-offs between channels and name dependencies that could block execution. Do not invent channel conversion rates, market demand, or partner commitments. Flag where customer interviews or legal review are needed before launch.
Operating problem
Use this for an internal bottleneck affecting delivery, quality, or cost.
Diagnose and recommend next steps for this operating problem: [PROBLEM]. The process today is [CURRENT PROCESS], evidence is [METRICS AND EXAMPLES], and constraints are [CONSTRAINTS]. Produce a root-cause tree separating facts from hypotheses, three interventions ranked by expected impact and effort, and a 30-day pilot plan with an owner, baseline, leading metric, and rollback condition. Address likely effects on customers and staff. Do not blame individuals or claim causation that the evidence cannot support. Flag HR, safety, compliance, or labor issues for specialist review.
Tips
- Frame the ask as a decision with a deadline; a consultant-style answer is weaker when it has no choice to resolve.
- Include the baseline and denominator for every metric, such as 12 of 80 prospects, because isolated percentages and anecdotes can mislead.
- Treat reversibility as a decision criterion: a pilot with a clear stop condition can be preferable when evidence is thin.
- Assign a named role and leading indicator to each action; a recommendation without ownership quickly becomes a discussion document.
FAQ
Can AI replace a business consultant?
It can structure a decision and expose assumptions quickly, but it cannot verify your internal data, interview customers, or take accountability for execution. Use qualified specialists for legal, tax, financial, HR, and regulated issues.
What data should I provide?
Provide the decision deadline, current metrics, customer evidence, costs, team capacity, options, and constraints. Include data quality concerns rather than hiding them.
How do I avoid a generic recommendation?
Ask for an option comparison, decision criteria, evidence strength, and conditions that would change the recommendation. These force the analysis to show its reasoning.