ChatGPT Work for Small Business

Your course prompts

Copy the text you need into ChatGPT Work. Use the main work order first; send the approval only after reviewing the plan.

Outcome: Create an Excel workbook for the owner of a fictional donut shop to understand July and August 2026 sales and the amount left after direct product costs.

Context: Use only donut-sales-july-2026.csv, donut-sales-august-2026.csv. Each file has six product records. net_sales_usd is monthly product sales after discounts and refunds, excluding tax. direct_costs_usd is the monthly ingredients and packaging cost for the units sold; it excludes wages, rent, utilities and other overhead. Both dollar fields are already totals, so do not multiply them by units_sold. Each box is a separate sales unit. Box sales are not also included in individual-product rows.

Standard: Include three tabs: Source data, Product summary and Owner brief. Retain the month and source filename for each record. Summarize units, net sales, direct costs and amount left after direct costs by product. Keep individual donuts and boxes in separate groups. Do not combine donut and box quantities into one unit total. Use formulas for calculated amounts and summaries. Show dollars with two decimal places and label units clearly. The Owner brief should give three observations supported by the records, two possible next steps, and any limitations. Do not describe the amount left after direct costs as overall business profit. Flag missing information rather than guessing. Check that both months and all records are included, reconcile sales and direct-cost totals, and show how one product calculation works. Preserve the original files. Create the requested workbook only; do not send, publish, or change anything else.

First propose a short plan and identify essential questions. Wait for my approval before creating the workbook.

The plan is approved. Create the workbook now. Keep box products separate from individual donuts, and include the checks we agreed on.

Check the workbook against both original CSV files. Report the source record count, separate unit counts, net sales and direct-cost totals. Explain one product calculation and flag any differences or unsupported claims. Do not change the workbook yet.

Keep the checked numbers and structure. In the Owner brief, explain the Maple Bacon finding in two plain-English sentences. Mention that rent, wages and other overhead are not included. Then recheck the totals and give me the revised workbook.

Give me the final Excel workbook and the exact filename. Confirm what you changed and which totals you checked. Preserve the original CSV files.

Add one chart showing the amount left after direct costs by product across both months. Use a dollar axis, show the negative value, label the period and preserve the original data and required tabs.

Outcome: Create [deliverable] for [audience] so that [purpose].
Context: Use [files or sources]. Relevant background: [details].
Standard: Include [essentials]. Use [format and tone]. Check [important facts or calculations]. Use only these sources unless I authorize more. Flag missing information instead of inventing it. Create a draft and ask before sending, publishing or changing anything outside the requested output.
First propose a short plan and ask essential questions. Wait for me to approve the plan before creating the deliverable.