FREE TOOL · OUT OF THE SILO

Find Your Ideal Customer

An AI Prompt Guide for New Small Businesses

Most new business owners can describe their product easily. Far fewer can describe their customer with the same clarity — and that gap is usually where marketing, pricing, and messaging all start to go sideways. This prompt walks an AI assistant through the same questions we use in the Out of the SILO course to help you build a real picture of who you're actually serving.

How to Use This

  1. Copy and Paste this prompt directly into ChatGPT, Claude or whichever AI you use to get a first pass at your competitive landscape. 

  2. Make edits to personalize your business type and other relevant information. Be as specific as possible. 

  3. Be sure to allow for questions to get the most accurate information possible.

The Prompt

I'm starting a business: [describe your product or service in 1–2 sentences]. Similar businesses are [name 3 similar businesses in your market].

Help me build a clear picture of my ideal customer. Ask me questions one section at a time, and use my answers to help fill in the gaps where I'm not sure. Cover:


1. Basic identity — age range, location, income level, gender if relevant.

2. Deeper identity — their interests, values, and the beliefs that shape how they make decisions.

3. A day in their life — walk through a typical day: where they work, their family situation, and where in their day a problem like [describe the problem you solve] would actually show up.

4. What draws them in — what motivates this person to buy something new, and who else influences that decision (a partner, a boss, a friend, an algorithm)?

5. Similar scenarios — based on other small businesses solving similar problems for similar customers, what am I likely missing about this person that I haven't thought to ask?


When we're done, summarize everything into a single customer profile I can reference later.

Want the Rest of the Plan?

This is one piece of a full 8-week course that walks you through building your entire business plan — solution, customer, marketing, structure, and finances — with a small group and a facilitator, not alone. Find more here.