Less chaos, more growth: plan your business with AI
Growth without a plan is just glorified chaos. More customers, more staff, more bills, and somehow less idea of where it's all heading and, in news that may shock you, it does not necessarily mean more profit!
The good news? A biz plan doesn’t need to be a 40 page document that lives in a drawer. One page is plenty. A good plan gives you clarity on where you’re heading, helps you make better decisions (including what to say no to), spots opportunities before your competitors do, and keeps you on track when things get busy.
That’s how you grow on purpose, rather than by accident. And this is exactly where AI earns its keep. It won’t run your biz for you (yet), but it’s brilliant at asking the right questions, doing hours of research in minutes, and turning the ideas rattling around your head into a clear plan. With a few good prompts, you can have a solid first draft in an afternoon, not a month of Sundays.
"The internet gave us access, the cloud gave us freedom, and AI gave us an intern who never sleeps. Still need to mark its homework though." Aly Garrett, All In Advisory
Quick test: can you explain why your biz exists in one sentence?
Most biz owners can't, and that's not a criticism. You've been too busy running the thing. But as Simon Sinek puts it, people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Your why is what makes customers choose you, staff stay, and you get out of bed on the hard days. It’s also your filter for growth: when every decision lines up with your why, you know exactly which opportunities to chase and which to let go.
So here's the fun part. Instead of staring at a blank page, let AI interview you. Try this in Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot (or whatever other lovely AI tool is your go to):
Act as a business coach using Simon Sinek's Golden Circle. Use anything you already know about me and my business from my settings or this chat. My website is [your website, or delete this line], so read it first if you can.
Interview me one question at a time to uncover the why behind my business: why I started it, what my customers would miss if I closed, and what I'm proud of. Don't make anything up about my business. If you're unsure, ask me.
Then write out in full:
1. Three versions of my Why, each one or two sentences starting with "We believe". Label them practical, warm and bold, and tell me which you'd pick and why.
2. My How (what makes us different) and my What (what we sell), one line each.
Ask me which Why I want to keep or what to tweak, then confirm my final Why, How and What in one line each.Five minutes later, you'll have words for the thing you've always felt but never written down.
Once you've nailed your why, the rest falls into place:
Mission: what you do today, who for, and the difference you make.
Vision: where you want to be, and by when.
Goals: the bridge between the two. Just one quick win for the next 90 days, and one big bang for the next 12 months.
We've built a ready to go AI prompt for each one, so you can copy, paste and have AI walk you through your mission, vision and goals step by step, finishing with SMART goals.
Get the mission, vision and goals prompts by clicking below.
Goals are the plan, research is the reality check
Once you've set your goals, check the market will back you up. AI can do hours of legwork in minutes: who your ideal customer is, who you're up against, and what's changing in your industry. Pull it together into a simple SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), and pick the one opportunity to act on first.
So let's up the game even more. In your AI tool, switch on web search and deep research (if you have it in your plan), then copy and paste the prompts and watch the magic happen. Grab the ideal customer, competitor, industry trends and SWOT prompts by clicking here.
Remember to ask for sources, check the links, and never trust a statistic without one. Your local knowledge beats AI every time.
By now the information you have found is starting to stack up, so let's put it to good use.
Your biz on one page
Now AI can pull everything together: your mission and vision, your ideal customer, what makes you different, your goals, three or four strategies, one opportunity, one threat and your 90 day priority. All on one page you can stick on the wall.
But here's the bit most plans miss. A plan without numbers is a wish. Add three or four key numbers, like monthly sales, gross margin, profit and the cash you want in the bank, each with a target and a date. Don't let AI guess these. Upload your profit and loss and balance sheet so your plan is built on your real numbers.
PS. Remember to check your AI tool's privacy settings first, and never upload tax file numbers or bank details.
But wait, like a set of steak knives, there's more...
On Xero? Let Claude read your numbers for you
This is the bit that gets us and our clients excited. Xero now connects directly to Claude. You add it once under Connectors in Claude's settings, sign in with your usual Xero login, choose your business, and that's it. No exporting reports, no uploading spreadsheets. Voila, live data!
The connection is read only, so Claude can look but it can't touch. It can't change a transaction, send an invoice or move a cent. What it can do is answer questions in plain English, like:
Who owes me the most money right now?
How is this month tracking against the same month last year?
Based on my real sales and margins, are my goals actually realistic?
Pair that with your one page plan and suddenly your goals and key numbers are built on what's really happening in your biz, not a guess. Xero has a step by step setup guide here: Claude and Xero.
Make it happen in 90 days
A plan only works if you act on it. Ask AI to turn your one page plan into a 90 day action plan: no more than five actions, quick wins first, each with an owner, a due date and what "done" looks like.
Then book a 15 minute check in with yourself every month. What's working, what's stuck, and what should you drop? It won't happen overnight, but it will happen with consistent action.
Where we come in
Apart from the you beaut prompts we've just handed you, of course!
AI does the heavy lifting, but it can't sit across the table from you. Your accountant helps you understand what your numbers actually mean, talks through the big decisions like hiring, pricing or borrowing, and keeps you accountable when life gets busy. And for anything tax, structure or heading to the bank, you still need a registered professional and, did I mention, AI can make mistakes? Let us mark that homework for you. 😉
The smartest move? Bring your one page biz plan to your next catch up. Instead of spending the hour on what already happened, we can spend it planning what happens next.
Ready to give it a go?
We've put every prompt from our recent AI for strategy and growth workshop into one free prompt library, ready to copy and paste into Claude, ChatGPT or Copilot.
Plus some absolutely legendary prompts for customising Claude to get the most out of it, creating a project where your Business HQ lives, building a 3 way profit and loss, balance sheet and cashflow forecast (yep we're not kidding), AND a weekly dashboard (for Xero users on a paid Claude plan).
Stay in one chat from start to finish, and you'll walk away with your why, mission, vision, goals, one page plan and 90 day action plan. You can thank us later!
PS. We love sweet treats if you feel the need to thank us further. 😉
Want a human in your corner too? The All In team would love to help you turn your plan into decisions. You can contact us by clicking here.
All in or all out, there's no halfway!
This article is general information only and isn't financial, tax or legal advice. AI tools can make mistakes, so always check their output, and talk to your accountant or registered tax agent before acting on it.
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