Have you ever thought about starting a business but had absolutely no idea where to begin?
Perhaps you’ve got an idea already. Or maybe you simply know you’d like to work for yourself but aren’t sure what kind of business would suit you.
This is an area where I think ChatGPT can be genuinely useful.
In fact, if I were starting again today, one of the first things I’d do would be to use ChatGPT for research.
I wouldn’t simply type:
“Give me 10 business ideas.”
Instead, I’d tell ChatGPT about myself.
I’d explain my background, experience, skills, interests and the type of work I’ve done previously. Then I’d ask it to interview me by asking clarifying questions to uncover skills or opportunities I might not have considered myself.
From there, I’d explore possible businesses that fit what I already know.
However, I’d also take it one step further.
I’d ask:
What additional skills could I realistically learn that would open up more opportunities?
That’s where using AI starts becoming much more interesting.
So, can you really start a business with ChatGPT?
Yes, I think ChatGPT can help enormously.
But there’s an important distinction.
ChatGPT can help you research, plan and develop a business. It can’t make that business successful for you.
With that in mind, let’s look at how you could use it to get started.
1. Start with you, not the business idea
If you don’t already have a business idea, don’t panic.
Instead, start with what you’ve already got.
Think about your skills, experience, interests and knowledge.
You may have spent 15 years working in an industry and assume everybody knows the things you know.
They probably don’t.
For example, somebody with years of experience in administration might have skills in organisation, customer service, spreadsheets, diary management and business processes.
A teacher, on the other hand, might have skills in training, presenting, creating educational materials and explaining complicated subjects simply.
Meanwhile, somebody who has worked in retail may understand customer service, stock management, merchandising and sales.
ChatGPT can help you identify these transferable skills.
Try telling it about your background and then say:
“Ask me one question at a time to learn more about my skills, experience and interests. Once you understand my background, suggest realistic small business ideas that could make use of those skills.”
As a result, you’re having a conversation rather than simply requesting a random list.
2. Explore business ideas with ChatGPT
Once ChatGPT understands a little more about you, start exploring.
For each potential idea, ask questions.
Who would buy this?
What problem would I solve?
How might I charge for it?
Who already offers something similar?
What would I need to learn?
How expensive would it be to get started?
What are the biggest risks?
Importantly, ask ChatGPT to challenge the idea as well.
It’s very easy to get excited when an AI tells you your idea has “significant market potential”.
However, that doesn’t mean anybody is actually going to buy it.
So ask:
“Give me five reasons this business idea might not work.”
Sometimes finding the weaknesses early is considerably more valuable than hearing another list of reasons why your idea is brilliant.
3. Research whether there’s actually a market
Once you’ve explored the initial idea, I’d move beyond brainstorming and start doing proper research.
ChatGPT can help you investigate:
- Existing competitors
- Industry trends
- Potential customers
- Typical pricing
- Customer problems
- Alternative solutions
- Market opportunities
- Possible gaps
Research capabilities in AI have moved on considerably. For example, ChatGPT can now help gather and compare information from multiple sources and produce structured research with citations.
However, don’t treat AI research as absolute truth.
Instead, check important information.
Visit competitor websites. Read customer reviews. Look at industry reports.
Most importantly, talk to potential customers.
If you’re thinking of selling a service to local tradespeople, for example, speak to some local tradespeople.
Ask them what problems they actually have.
AI can help you prepare the questions, but ultimately it can’t replace those real conversations.
4. Turn your idea into a simple business plan
I know the phrase “business plan” can make things sound unnecessarily complicated.
However, you don’t necessarily need a 47-page document full of graphs and financial forecasts.
What you do need is something that gives you focus.
I’d want a simple document covering:
- What am I offering?
- Who is it for?
- What problem does it solve?
- How will I make money?
- What will I charge?
- How will people find me?
- What will it cost to get started?
- What do I need before I launch?
- What are my first priorities?
ChatGPT can help you build this one section at a time.
Better still, ask it questions whenever something doesn’t make sense.
The finished document doesn’t need to impress a bank manager.
Instead, its first job is to help you understand what you’re actually trying to build.
5. Work out what your business will cost
This is one area I’d take particularly seriously.
Starting a business often takes longer than people expect.
Making money can take longer too.
Therefore, don’t build your plan around the assumption that customers will start arriving immediately.
First, work out your likely costs.
For example, do you need equipment, software or insurance?
What about a website, advertising, professional fees, stock or transport?
In addition, how much money do you personally need each month?
ChatGPT can help you create a list of costs you might have overlooked and build different scenarios.
For example:
“Help me estimate the likely startup and monthly costs for this business. Separate essential costs from things I could delay until the business starts generating revenue.”
That last sentence could save you quite a bit of money.
After all, you don’t necessarily need everything on day one.
6. Develop your offer and pricing
Having a skill isn’t the same as having an offer.
For example, “I do digital marketing” is a skill area.
In contrast, “I help local businesses improve their Google visibility with a monthly SEO support package” is much closer to an offer.
ChatGPT can help you work through that difference.
Start by explaining your skills, customer and business idea. Then explore different ways you could package what you do.
Could you offer a one-off service?
Perhaps a monthly package would work better.
Alternatively, could you create a workshop, consultation or digital product?
Maybe the answer is a combination of several things.
You can also research competitor pricing and explore different pricing models.
However, don’t simply ask ChatGPT what you should charge and treat the answer as fact.
Your pricing needs to reflect your costs, market, experience, customer and the value you’re providing.
Ultimately, use AI to help you think through the decision rather than make it for you.
7. Create the basics of your brand
Eventually, your new business is going to need a name and some basic positioning.
This is another area where ChatGPT can be a useful brainstorming partner.
For example, you could explore:
- Business names
- Taglines
- Your main message
- Customer problems
- Your tone of voice
- Domain name ideas
- Your elevator pitch
Again, context makes all the difference.
Don’t simply ask:
“Give me business names.”
Instead, explain what the business does, who it’s for, what you want people to feel and the type of names you like or dislike.
Then refine the ideas from there.
Of course, always check whether a business name, domain and relevant trademarks are available before committing to anything.
8. Build a simple marketing plan
Unfortunately, building something doesn’t mean people will automatically discover it.
Therefore, marketing needs to be part of the plan from the beginning.
ChatGPT can help you decide which marketing activities make sense for your particular business.
For example, you might explore:
- A simple website
- Local SEO
- Google Business Profile
- Email marketing
- Networking
- YouTube
- Advertising
- Partnerships
- Events
However, you probably don’t need all of them.
In fact, trying to do everything is usually a good way of doing nothing particularly well.
Instead, ask ChatGPT to help identify the two or three channels most likely to reach your target customer.
Then focus on those first.
9. Use AI to fill some of your knowledge gaps
One thing that makes starting a business difficult is suddenly having to do lots of different jobs.
You might be brilliant at what you actually sell but know very little about marketing.
Perhaps websites aren’t your thing.
Maybe spreadsheets leave you completely confused.
Advertising and finance could be unfamiliar too.
This is one of the areas where AI has created a genuine advantage for somebody starting today.
Recent OpenAI research found people increasingly using ChatGPT to perform tasks traditionally associated with other occupations. In smaller businesses, where specialist support isn’t always available, that crossover appears particularly relevant.
Of course, that doesn’t suddenly make you an accountant, lawyer, marketer or web developer.
Nor should you use ChatGPT instead of qualified professional advice when you genuinely need it.
However, it can help you understand unfamiliar subjects, ask better questions and learn much faster.
10. Use ChatGPT as you actually build the business
The usefulness of ChatGPT doesn’t end when you’ve written your business plan.
In many ways, that’s where it starts.
I’ve experienced this while developing AI Growth 101.
For example, I’ve used ChatGPT to research other communities, explore pricing, investigate workshops, develop content ideas and analyse advertising campaigns.
Along the way, I’ve also changed things.
That’s important because your original plan probably won’t survive completely intact either.
Once real people interact with your business, you’ll learn things.
Some ideas will work, while others won’t.
Customers may also want something slightly different from what you expected.
As a result, you can keep bringing that information back into ChatGPT and asking:
What is this telling me?
That turns AI into an ongoing sounding board rather than something you used once to write a business plan.
Don’t expect instant results
There’s one thing I’d particularly want somebody starting their first business to understand.
It takes time.
There’s a huge amount of content online suggesting you can launch a business this weekend and start generating significant income almost immediately.
Of course, occasionally somebody does.
However, I wouldn’t build my financial future around it.
Businesses need time to find customers, establish trust, improve their offer and work out what actually sells.
Money matters too.
Research into failed startups consistently highlights running out of cash alongside deeper problems such as poor product-market fit.
So be realistic.
How long can you afford to develop the business?
Could you start it alongside your existing job?
Can you keep your initial costs low?
What happens if it takes six months rather than six weeks to gain traction?
ChatGPT can help you model those scenarios.
Ultimately, optimism still needs to meet reality.
AI can give you a starting point
If somebody came to me today and said:
“I’ve got an idea for a business, but I don’t know where to start.”
I’d tell them to use AI as a fresh pair of eyes.
First, get everything out of your head.
Then explain the idea and your background.
Next, ask ChatGPT to ask you questions.
After that, create a simple document that gives you some direction.
It doesn’t need to be perfect.
In fact, it probably won’t be.
The important thing is that you’ve moved from:
“I’ve got an idea.”
to:
“Here’s what I’m going to do next.”
That’s a big difference.
However, you then have to do the bit ChatGPT can’t do for you.
Take action.
Speak to people.
Test the idea.
Find your first customer.
Learn from what happens.
Finally, come back, review what you’ve learned and decide what to do next.
Want help using AI to develop your business?
If you’re thinking about starting a business, already running one or simply exploring what’s possible with AI, you’re very welcome to join the AI Growth 101 community.
It’s completely free and designed around practical ways to use AI and digital marketing without getting lost in technical jargon or hype.
There, you can learn, ask questions, experiment and share what you’re working on with other people doing exactly the same.
You don’t need to have everything figured out.
Sometimes you just need somewhere to start.