Free guide · 23 minute read
10 copy-paste AI workflows for small business
For owners, no tech needed. Try the best prompt from it right now, then open the whole guide free with your email.
The plan
- Pick the one job below you put off most often. The invoice chaser is a good first choice.
- Set it up once: make a project in ChatGPT or Claude and paste in the saved instructions for that workflow.
- Each time the job comes round, open the project, paste the prompt with your details, check the draft, and send it yourself.
Try this now: the invoice chaser
Use it when an invoice is past due and you've been putting off the awkward email. Paste this into chatgpt.com or claude.ai, fill in the brackets, and send.
An invoice is overdue and I need to chase it. Details: invoice number [number], for [what the work was], sent on [date], due on [date], amount [amount], and it's now [number] days late. This is reminder number [1, 2 or 3]. Our payment options are [e-transfer to ... / card by phone / cheque]. Write a short email to the customer. Reminder 1 is friendly and assumes they forgot. Reminder 2 is polite but firmer and asks for a payment date. Reminder 3 is formal, states the amount and the date it was due, and says what happens next: [our next step, for example "we'll call you" or "we'll pause further work"]. Under 120 words. Don't threaten anything I haven't listed. Don't add late fees or interest unless I've listed them here: [none / the terms printed on the invoice].
Check the invoice number, amount and dates against your accounting app. If the customer has already raised a problem with the work, don't send a reminder; call them.
1. Start here if you've never used AI
ChatGPT and Claude are AI assistants. You type a message on their website or phone app and they write an answer back. ChatGPT is made by OpenAI, Claude by Anthropic. Every workflow in this kit works in either one, and both have free plans.
A workflow is a job you do every week, set up once. You save the rules for that job (your tone, your policies, what to never do) in one place. After that you only paste in this week's details.
The place you save it is called a project. A project is a folder inside ChatGPT or Claude with its own instructions and files. Every chat you start inside it follows those instructions. Both tools offer projects on the free plan, with limits: on ChatGPT's free plan a project holds up to five files, and Claude's free plan allows up to five projects. Limits change, so check each tool's plan page. It's enough to start with your two or three most common jobs.
It writes; you send. In these workflows the assistant can't email your customer or post for you. It gives you a draft. You read it, fix it, and send it yourself, so nothing goes out that you haven't seen.
It can be wrong and sound sure. It may invent a date, a price or a policy. That's why every workflow ends with a "what to check" list.
Keep private details out. Take out names, addresses, phone numbers, health details and account numbers before you paste anything. Write "Customer A" instead. It doesn't need to know who the customer is to write the email.
Words you'll see
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Prompt | The message you type to the assistant. |
| Project | A folder in ChatGPT or Claude with its own saved instructions and files. |
| Saved instructions | The rules you paste into a project once, so every chat inside it follows them. |
| Workflow | One repeating job: the saved instructions, the prompt, and the checks. |
| [Brackets] | The parts you replace with your own details. |
| Draft | A first version you read and fix before it goes anywhere. |
| Transcript | The written-out text of a recording, such as a voice memo or a video call. |
| Automation | Something that runs a step for you without you pressing a button. Covered at the end. |
Get the full guide
That was the free part. Put your email in and the other 14 sections open right here on this page, with a copy button on every prompt. The PDF is yours too.
It’s yours.
The rest of the guide is below. It stays open on this device when you come back. The PDF has the same guide to save, print, or send to your team.
More free guides
Eleven more like this one, all written for owners who are new to AI.
Last updated 2026-09-25