A Project in Claude is a workspace with its own standing instructions and its own documents. Everything you do inside it starts from that context. Set four of them up well and the tool stops being generic. This is exactly how I do it on a Kickstart; you can do it yourself in an afternoon.
Step 1: write the business brief (30 minutes)
One document, pasted into every project's instructions. Keep it under 400 words. Write it to Claude, in the second person, in plain English. Here's the skeleton:
You are working inside [BUSINESS], a [one-sentence description] in [town]. Our customers are [who]. About us - We do: [3–5 bullets] - We don't do: [things you get asked for and decline] - Pricing: see the price list in this project. Never invent a price. If it isn't listed, write "I'd need to check that". How we sound - Tone: [e.g. friendly and direct, first names, no exclamation marks, British English] - We say: [words you use] - We never say: [words to avoid] - Sign-off: [e.g. "Thanks, Dan"] House rules - Everything you write is a draft for a human to check and send. - Keep replies short. Three short paragraphs beats one long one. - Never promise timings, availability or prices that aren't in the documents. - If you don't know something about us, say so rather than guess. People - [Name], [role] — [what they handle]
The single most useful line in there is the tone line, and the fastest way to get it right is to paste three real emails you were proud of underneath it and write “sound like these”.
Step 2: create the four projects (45 minutes)
Each gets the brief, plus a short project-specific block, plus its own documents. These four cover almost every small business I've worked with:
1. Customer replies
Upload: Price list, FAQs, terms, opening hours or service area, three replies you were happy with.
Add to the instructions: When I paste a message: tell me in one line what they want, then draft a reply I can send. Anything needing my decision (price, date, discount) goes in [square brackets]. Complaints: acknowledge, explain, end with what happens next and when.
2. Quotes & proposals
Upload: Price list or rate card, two or three past quotes, your template if you have one, terms.
Add to the instructions: When I describe a job: ask up to three clarifying questions only if the scope is genuinely unclear, then lay it out in our standard structure. Use listed prices only; mark anything else [CHECK PRICE]. End with a next step and a validity date.
3. Marketing
Upload: Past posts you liked, your website's about page, a couple of real reviews.
Add to the instructions: Sound like a person from the business, not a brand. Every post needs a real reason to exist. Never invent results, names or quotes. Give me three versions of anything short and one of anything long.
4. Internal ops
Upload: Any procedures you've written down, a team list with roles, the tools you use.
Add to the instructions: Meeting notes → decisions, actions with owner and date, open questions. Task explanations → numbered procedure a new starter could follow. Spreadsheet questions → the formula plus one plain sentence.
If your business is unusual, swap one out. A café might replace Internal ops with Catering enquiries. A consultancy might split Quotes into Proposals and Reports. The principle holds: one project per kind of work, not per customer.
Step 3: test it with real examples (20 minutes)
Run three tests and fix the brief until each feels right:
- Replies: paste a real enquiry from last week. “Draft a reply.” Read it aloud. Does it sound like you?
- Quotes: “A customer wants [a typical job]. Quote it.” Check every price against the list. Check it flagged anything it didn't know.
- Marketing: “Write a post about [something that happened this week].” Check it didn't invent a single fact.
Common fixes:
- Too formal → add more real examples of your emails.
- Too long → add “three short paragraphs maximum” to the house rules.
- Invents prices → check the price list actually uploaded, and strengthen the “never invent” line.
- Too keen → “no exclamation marks, don't oversell”.
Step 4: give each person a two-line preference (5 minutes)
In their own settings, everyone adds: “I'm [name], [role] at [business]. I mostly use Claude for [their top task]. Be direct, skip the preamble.” That's it. It removes most of the padding people find annoying.
Step 5: save the prompts people actually used (20 minutes)
After a week, write down the ten things people asked for most. Name them in plain English (“Quote for a kitchen job”, not “Sales proposal generator”) and put them in a shared doc in whatever tool the team already uses. Give the doc an owner. That document is the difference between a habit and a phase.
What this doesn't cover
The bit that's hard to do from an article: getting each person to do one real task with someone watching the first time, and having an outsider walk your week to spot what's worth automating. That's the training and audit half of a Kickstart, and it's why the day exists. But the set-up above is the foundation, and it's yours.
Want to see the finished thing before starting? Watch a simulated set-up here, or browse 36 things to do with it once it's built.