Best prompts this week

Week of October 19, 2026. Our picks for what's most useful to small business owners right now, and why.

1. Decide how much to pay myself (Bookkeeping & Finance)
   Q4 is when many owners set next year's pay. This turns real averages into a safe monthly number.
2. Build a 12-month seasonal marketing calendar (Marketing)
   Plan the holiday rush and the January slump now, while there is still time to prepare.
3. Build a yearly business compliance calendar (Legal & Admin Basics)
   Year-end filings and renewals are coming. Get every deadline in one place.
4. Apologize to a customer for our mistake (Customer Emails & Service)
   Busy season means more mistakes. A good apology keeps the customer.
5. Create good-better-best pricing packages (Sales)
   A quick way to raise your average sale without a price increase.
6. Set up a simple job costing tracker (Operations)
   Find out which jobs actually make money before you plan next year.
7. Plan a simple customer referral program (Marketing)
   Your happiest customers are your cheapest marketing channel.
8. Build a 13-week cash flow forecast (Bookkeeping & Finance)
   Still our most useful prompt: see cash crunches coming weeks ahead.

Newest prompts

• Apologize to a customer for our mistake

  Customer Emails & Service

  Write a sincere, specific apology when your business got something wrong, with a fair fix you can offer and a note on preventing it next time.

• Build a 12-month seasonal marketing calendar

  Marketing

  Get a month-by-month marketing calendar built around your busy and slow seasons, local events and holidays, with one clear campaign idea for each month.

• Build a fair weekly staff schedule

  Operations

  Draft a weekly restaurant staff schedule that covers busy periods, respects availability and flags overtime or coverage gaps.

• Build a yearly business compliance calendar

  Legal & Admin Basics

  List the recurring filings, renewals and deadlines your business likely has (taxes, licenses, insurance, annual reports) in one calendar so nothing lapses.

• Check food cost and price a dish

  Bookkeeping & Finance

  Calculate the plate cost of a dish from your recipe and supplier prices, then get menu prices that hit your target food cost.

• Check where I need to collect sales tax

  Bookkeeping & Finance

  Map out which states or regions you may need to collect sales tax in, based on where you sell and ship, with questions to confirm with a tax pro.

• Confirm scope and fees with a new tax client

  Legal & Admin Basics

  Confirm what's included in a tax engagement, what costs extra and what you need from the client, in a clear email that goes with your engagement letter.

• Create a new customer onboarding checklist

  Operations

  Map out every step from 'yes' to a happy customer, with who does what, the messages to send, and the info to collect, so nothing slips through the cracks.

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