STAN TSCHERENKOW Business prompt briefs Version 1.1 - 15 October 2026 https://stantscherenkow.com/craft/use-ai-well/prompt-system Five public working templates. Examples are illustrative, not client records. Replace bracketed inputs. Do not upload private material without permission. 1. Strategy memo DRAFT PROMPT Help draft a one-page business memo. Audience: the owner deciding [decision] by [date]. Use only the facts I supply below. List the decision, available facts and their dates, options including waiting, costs and constraints, unresolved questions, and one proposed next step. Separate fact from assumption. If a missing fact could change the choice, ask for it before recommending. Do not invent demand, customers, savings or outcomes. Inputs: [situation, source facts, options, limits]. CHALLENGE PROMPT Review the memo against the supplied facts. Which option was dismissed without evidence? Which assumption changes the recommendation if false? Identify invented numbers, missing sources and irreversible commitments. Return the specific sentence to fix and the evidence needed. Do not reward confident wording. EXAMPLE INPUT Illustrative input: five buyers asked for a smaller $200 workshop; none has paid. Preparing it takes six hours. An existing service costs $1,500. EXAMPLE OUTPUT Test a paid reservation before preparing the workshop. Five requests establish interest, not five sales. The effect on the existing service remains unknown. WHAT THE RESULT SUPPORTS Usable as a test proposal after the owner confirms capacity. Not evidence of validated demand. 2. Board pre-brief DRAFT PROMPT Draft a pre-meeting note for [board or owners]. The decision is [decision], with authority held by [person/body]. Use these supplied records: [records and dates]. Write: decision requested, current position, options, financial and operating consequences, relevant constraints, questions requiring specialist review, and the exact approval sought. Attach source labels to every number. Flag missing information; do not infer a vote, approval, legal duty or consensus. CHALLENGE PROMPT Act as a reader checking the pre-brief, not as a director giving approval. Trace every number to an input. Name any result presented as certain, any missing alternative, and any question the stated decision authority has not answered. Return corrections before a recommendation. EXAMPLE INPUT Illustrative input: equipment quote $40,000; available cash $75,000; minimum operating cash $50,000; no financing agreed. EXAMPLE OUTPUT A cash purchase would leave $35,000 before other receipts or payments, $15,000 below the stated minimum. Ask for the payment schedule and a current cash forecast before approval. WHAT THE RESULT SUPPORTS Arithmetic is checkable. Approval remains open; available cash is not a complete forecast. 3. Term-sheet questions DRAFT PROMPT Help prepare questions for qualified legal and financial advisers about this supplied term sheet: [text with clause numbers]. Make a plain-language issue list covering control, payment timing, obligations, exit rights and unresolved definitions. Quote the relevant clause before each question. Distinguish written terms from inference. Do not declare a clause standard, enforceable, safe or acceptable. If the full agreement or jurisdiction is missing, say so. End with unanswered questions for the advisers, not a recommendation to sign. CHALLENGE PROMPT Check every quoted clause against the input. Identify an obligation the summary omitted, an undefined term it treated as settled, and any legal conclusion it is not entitled to make. Separate genuine ambiguity from missing source text. EXAMPLE INPUT Illustrative input: clause 4 says payment is subject to satisfactory due diligence; no deadline or satisfaction test is supplied. EXAMPLE OUTPUT Question for counsel: who determines satisfaction, by what criteria and by what date, and what happens if the parties disagree? The excerpt does not answer those questions. WHAT THE RESULT SUPPORTS Useful question list. No legal conclusion or permission to sign. 4. Supplier quote comparison DRAFT PROMPT Compare supplier quotes for [purchase] using only [supplied quotes]. List the same requirements for each: included work, quantities, price and currency, taxes or exclusions, delivery date, payment schedule, support and cancellation terms. Mark a missing item unknown rather than assuming it is included. Identify the questions needed to make the quotes comparable. Do not name a winner until required differences are resolved. CHALLENGE PROMPT Check whether the lowest price excludes something another quote includes. Recalculate totals from the supplied quantities. Find any unmatched delivery, support or payment condition. Return the smallest follow-up question set that prevents a misleading comparison. EXAMPLE INPUT Illustrative input: A quotes $8,000 plus delivery; B quotes $8,600 including delivery. Neither quote gives A's delivery cost. EXAMPLE OUTPUT A is cheaper only if delivery is less than $600, assuming the remaining scope matches. Ask A for the delivered total and both suppliers for the same installation scope. WHAT THE RESULT SUPPORTS Comparison remains incomplete. Do not claim a $600 saving. 5. Business-sale conversation DRAFT PROMPT Prepare an owner for a discussion about a possible business sale. Inputs: [owner goals, confirmed buyer request, known terms, non-negotiables, unknowns]. Draft an opening statement, questions about responsibilities and timing, points to take to legal/tax/transaction advisers, and a closing summary that records what is agreed and what remains open. Do not invent buyer motives, valuation, willingness to pay or a likely reaction. Label possible responses as possibilities, not predictions. Do not accept terms or draft binding commitments. CHALLENGE PROMPT Find where the draft assumes the other side agrees, hides a conflict between price and the owner's intended role, or makes an unauthorized commitment. Check that the closing summary distinguishes discussion from agreement. EXAMPLE INPUT Illustrative input: owner wants to stop operating within six months; buyer asks for a three-year operating commitment; price is not agreed. EXAMPLE OUTPUT Opening: I want to understand whether there is a structure that fits a six-month handover. Your three-year operating request conflicts with that goal. Which responsibilities require that period, and what alternatives would you consider? WHAT THE RESULT SUPPORTS Usable discussion opening after the owner checks the facts. No deal or outcome is implied. 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