25 ChatGPT Prompts for Business Planning and Growth

Strategy work is where AI delivers outsized value — not by making decisions for you, but by compressing the analysis, structuring, and scenario planning that normally takes weeks into hours.

These 25 prompts cover the strategic decisions that founders, operators, and business leaders face regularly. Each one produces a structured deliverable, not generic advice.

Market and Competitive Analysis (1-6)

1. Competitive Landscape Matrix "Map the competitive landscape for [industry/category]. Include [competitor 1], [competitor 2], [competitor 3], and my company [name]. Compare across these dimensions: target audience, pricing model, key features, distribution channels, and brand positioning. Format as a comparison matrix. Identify the most defensible whitespace."

2. Market Entry Assessment "Evaluate whether [my company] should enter the [new market/segment]. Current business: [describe]. New opportunity: [describe]. Analyze: market size, competitive intensity, our right to win, required investment, timeline to profitability, and cannibalization risk. End with a go/no-go recommendation with reasoning."

3. SWOT Analysis with Actions "Conduct a SWOT analysis for [business]. Context: [describe business, market, current situation]. For each quadrant, list 3-5 items. Then create an action plan: how to leverage each strength, mitigate each weakness, capitalize on each opportunity, and defend against each threat."

4. Customer Segment Prioritization "We serve these customer segments: [list segments with brief descriptions]. For each, estimate: revenue potential, cost to acquire, retention rate, expansion potential, and strategic value. Rank them by overall priority and recommend where to focus resources."

5. Industry Trend Analysis "Analyze the top 5 trends affecting [industry] over the next 2-3 years. For each trend, assess: impact on our business [describe business], timeline, whether it's an opportunity or threat, and specific actions we should take now to position ourselves."

6. Competitive Moat Assessment "Evaluate the defensibility of [my company's] competitive position. Our advantages are: [list]. Assess each as a true moat or a temporary advantage. Identify which moats to strengthen, which are eroding, and what new moats to build. Use Warren Buffett's moat framework."

Growth Strategy (7-12)

7. Growth Model Design "Design a growth model for [business type] currently at [revenue/stage]. Current acquisition channels: [list with performance]. Growth target: [X] in [timeframe]. Identify the 3 highest-leverage growth levers, the experiments to run for each, and the metrics to track. Constrained to a team of [X] and budget of [$X/month]."

8. Pricing Strategy Evaluation "Evaluate our pricing strategy. Current: [describe pricing]. Competitors: [describe competitor pricing]. Customer segments: [describe]. Analyze whether we're leaving money on the table, underpricing relative to value, or creating friction with our model. Suggest 3 pricing changes to test, ranked by expected revenue impact."

9. Channel Strategy "We need to grow [metric] by [X%] in [timeframe]. Current channels and performance: [list]. Budget: [$X/month]. Team: [describe]. Recommend a channel strategy: which channels to double down on, which to cut, and one new channel to test. Include expected ROI per channel."

10. Product-Led Growth Assessment "Evaluate whether product-led growth is right for [product]. Current GTM: [describe]. Product: [describe]. Assess: Is the product self-serve ready? What's the current activation rate? What viral loops exist? What would a PLG motion look like? What needs to change to support it?"

11. Partnership and Alliance Strategy "Identify partnership opportunities for [business]. Our strengths: [list]. Our gaps: [list]. Suggest 5 types of partnerships that would accelerate growth, with: ideal partner profile, what we offer them, what they offer us, deal structure, and how to approach them."

12. International Expansion Readiness "Assess whether [business] is ready for international expansion. Current market: [country]. Candidate markets: [list 2-3]. For each market, evaluate: market size, competitive landscape, localization requirements, regulatory hurdles, and estimated investment. Recommend whether to expand and where."

Positioning and Messaging (13-16)

13. Positioning Statement Generator "Create 5 positioning statement variations for [product/company]. We serve [audience], compete with [alternatives], and differentiate on [key value]. Use the format: For [target], [product] is the [category] that [benefit] because [reason to believe]. Recommend the strongest one with reasoning."

14. Messaging Hierarchy "Build a messaging hierarchy for [product/company]. Include: one core message (the single most important thing to communicate), 3 supporting pillars (major themes), and 2-3 proof points per pillar (evidence). Map each element to the buyer stage where it's most effective."

15. Brand Story Framework "Develop a brand story framework for [company]. Context: [founding story, mission, market context]. Structure it as: the world before us, the problem we saw, why existing solutions failed, our insight, what we built, and the impact we're making. Keep it under 300 words."

16. Objection Handling Matrix "List the top 10 objections prospects raise about [product/service]. For each: the exact words they use, the underlying concern, the reframe, the proof point that addresses it, and the best response (under 50 words)."

Operational Strategy (17-21)

17. OKR Framework "Create OKRs for [company/team] for [quarter/year]. Company goals: [describe]. For each of 3 objectives, include 3-4 measurable key results with specific targets. Ensure alignment between company-level and team-level OKRs. Include leading indicators to track weekly."

18. Resource Allocation Framework "We have [X people] and [$X budget] to allocate across these initiatives: [list initiatives]. For each, estimate: impact on [key metric], confidence level, resource requirement, and timeline. Recommend an allocation using a 70/20/10 framework (core/adjacent/experimental)."

19. Build vs. Buy Decision Framework "We need [capability]. Option A: Build in-house. Option B: Buy/integrate [specific tool/service]. Evaluate: total cost over 12 months (including engineering time at [$X/hour]), time to value, customization needs, maintenance burden, strategic importance, and risk. Recommend one with reasoning."

20. Hiring Plan "Create a hiring plan for [company] over the next [6/12 months]. Current team: [describe]. Current bottlenecks: [list]. Growth targets: [describe]. For each recommended hire: role, why now, expected impact, salary range for [location], and what to deprioritize if we can only hire [X] of [Y] recommended roles."

21. Process Optimization "Analyze this workflow for optimization opportunities: [describe current process step by step]. Identify: bottlenecks, redundant steps, automation opportunities, and quality risks. Suggest an optimized version and estimate time savings."

Strategic Decision-Making (22-25)

22. Decision Matrix "I need to decide between: [option A], [option B], [option C]. Context: [describe situation]. Create a weighted decision matrix. Criteria: [list or ask AI to suggest]. Weight each criterion by importance, score each option 1-5, and calculate a weighted total. Include a sensitivity analysis: does the result change if weights shift?"

23. Pre-Mortem Analysis "We're about to [describe plan/decision]. Conduct a pre-mortem: imagine it's 12 months later and this has failed. What went wrong? List 10 plausible failure scenarios ranked by likelihood. For the top 5, suggest a preventive action we can take now."

24. Scenario Planning "Create three scenarios for [business/market] over the next [timeframe]. For each (optimistic, base case, pessimistic): describe what happens, the key drivers, probability estimate, impact on our business, and the strategic response. Identify no-regret moves that work in all three scenarios."

25. Quarterly Strategy Review "Facilitate a quarterly strategy review for [company]. Last quarter's goals: [list]. Results: [list]. Market changes: [describe]. Create an agenda that covers: what worked, what didn't, what changed in the market, what to double down on, what to stop, and priorities for next quarter."

Getting Maximum Value from Strategy Prompts

• Be honest about your numbers. Approximate data produces better strategy than no data.
• Include constraints. Every strategy exists within constraints — budget, time, team size, technical limitations.
• Ask for tradeoffs. The best strategic thinking is about tradeoffs, not just recommendations.
• Use prompts sequentially. The competitive analysis (prompt 1) informs the positioning (prompt 13) which informs the messaging (prompt 14).
• Challenge the output. After getting a recommendation, ask: "What's the strongest argument against this approach?"

For ready-to-use strategic planning prompts, explore PromptRepo's Build category.