Check there's demand before you start
A short plan to test whether people will actually pay.
Open prompt: Check there's demand before you startEst. time saved: 2+ hours
Starting a business
Get from idea to first customer
The first version, the first customers and the path to first income.
- Best for
- Anyone ready to start
- Est. time saved
- 2+ hours
- Works with
- ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini
When to use it
- You've picked an idea and want a practical plan to your first paying customer.
When not to
- As a guarantee. It's a plan to test as you go.
What to have ready
- The idea
- Who it's for
- What you have: time, money, skills
The prompt
Fill in the [BRACKETS], then paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
› the prompt
You're helping me plan the path from my idea to my first paying customer. Be practical. The idea: [DESCRIBE IT] Who it's for: [YOUR CUSTOMERS] What I have: [TIME, MONEY, SKILLS, CONTACTS] Please: 1. Say who the very first customers are likely to be, and where to find them. 2. Describe the simplest first version I could sell: what's in it and what's left out for now. 3. List the main risks and how to test each one cheaply. 4. Suggest how to price it to start with, based on what I've told you, and what to check. 5. Give a step-by-step plan to the first paying customer. Rules: - Use only what I've told you. Don't invent market figures, prices or success stories. - Label every assumption as a guess. - Anything I send to customers is a draft for me to check first.
Example input
A made-up example of what the brackets might say.
Idea: a weekly kids' coding club in community halls.
Who for: parents of 8 to 12-year-olds in Portland.
What I have: teaching experience, 6 laptops, $2,000, Saturdays free.
Tips
- Sell it before you perfect it. Your first customers will tell you what to fix.
- Write down why each early customer said yes. It's your best marketing.
Related prompts
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Ways to fund and grow your start on your own.
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Weigh up a business idea
The market, the risks and what to do first, laid out plainly.
Open prompt: Weigh up a business ideaEst. time saved: 1–2 hours
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