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Give an owner a four-line monthly profit flash

  • For Small business owners
  • You practice Saying who it's for
  • Time about 5 minutes
  • Level Beginner

About this exercise

You're the bookkeeper sending the owner a quick October flash. Write a prompt for plain text with lines starting "Revenue:", "Costs:", "Profit:" and "Margin:", each with the math. Costs are cost of goods plus operating expenses. Margin is profit / revenue to one decimal. These are preliminary bookkeeping figures. Don't mention the owner's hoped-for profit. Under 60 words. No bullets or numbering.

Common mistakes when you ask AI for this

  • Costs without operating expenses. The AI uses only cost of goods and shows $27,200 profit. Try: Say: "Costs = cost of goods + operating expenses."
  • Comparing to the owner's hope. The AI adds how far this is from $12,000. Try: Add: "Do not mention the owner's hoped-for profit."
  • Margin on costs. The AI divides profit by costs. Try: Add: "Margin = profit / revenue."
  • Markdown extras. The AI adds bold labels, headings and a closing note. Try: Say: "Plain text, no bold. Output only the lines asked for."
  • Trusting the AI to count words. AI is bad at counting and runs past word limits. Try: Ask for fewer words than the real cap and keep each line short.

What a strong prompt includes

  • Names the four lines
  • Gives the formulas
  • Asks for arithmetic
  • Bans the hope
  • Caps length

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