Non‑Techy Guide for Women Leading Small Service Businesses
If you’re a woman leading a small service business, you’ve probably heard people throwing around “ChatGPT” and “Claude” like you’re supposed to just know which one to use. Meanwhile, you’re juggling clients, team, invoices, and maybe family, and you don’t have time to become “an AI person.”
This is your simple, non‑techy cheat sheet: when to open ChatGPT, when to open Claude, and how I personally think about the two in my own work.
How I Look at ChatGPT vs Claude (And Why)
I’ll be honest: ChatGPT is my default, mostly because that’s where I and everyone started. It’s what a lot of my clients still use, and I’ve built a ton of habits around it.
When something quick pops into my head and I just want to get it out of my brain and into a clear sentence or idea, I usually open ChatGPT. That’s habit, not because Claude couldn’t do it.
Claude, on the other hand, feels a little different for me. I reach for it when:
- I’m working with longer documents
- I have lots of context or data in one place
- I need a more thoughtful, conversational tone that feels a little less “ChatGPT‑ish”
Claude has a larger context window, which is a fancy way of saying: I can feed it more pages, more slides, more text before it starts to struggle. So if I’m reviewing a pitch deck, a long doc with lots of data, or I want it to break down something dense into presentation‑ready language, I go to Claude (or sometimes Gemini).
So, simple version of my reality:
- ChatGPT: my “habit” tool and everyday workhorse.
- Claude: my “long‑form, deep thinking, make‑this-presentable” tool.
You might end up with a different preference, and that’s okay. A lot of this is about comfort and workflow.
That’s kinda the point, this is not a science it’s a choice. But I’ll share what I have learned over the past close to 3-4 years using both and how I think about them.
First, a Simple Way to Think About Them
You don’t need all the technical differences. Here’s a practical way to frame it:
- ChatGPT: Your everyday “Swiss Army knife” for getting work out the door—emails, ideas, drafts, posts, marketing content, summaries, and quick answers. (I also use it to organize and name chats and projects, which I’ll talk more about in another article.)
- Claude: Your thoughtful editor and deep thinker—great with long documents, detailed explanations, policy drafts, training materials, and more nuanced or strategic writing. It’s also great for layouts for website mockups or slide decks, and for breaking down dense information into presentation‑ready copy.
You can’t really “break” either tool. The worst‑case scenario is you don’t like the answer and ask again.
When to Open ChatGPT
When your team or those you might use it with are using ChatGPT already. When you think you might share a lot with others. It’s just better at sharable GPTs and Projects. Also, reach for ChatGPT when you want to move faster on everyday communication and content.
Think:
- First drafts of documents
- Creating social posts, newsletters, blog outlines, or landing page copy
- Turning messy notes into something readable and usable
- Using transcripts to create task lists or summarize ideas for a project
- Turning short clips or transcript sections into social posts, newsletters, or articles
- Brainstorming ideas for offers, lead magnets, workshops, or content
If you have a team and you want to work together consistently, you can build Custom GPTs to share for repeated work, so everyone starts from the same “brain” instead of reinventing prompts from scratch.
Example prompt you can copy (this is just an example use your own voice and tone):
“I run a small service business doing [brief description]. We’re working on a checklist to share with our client. Help us write it so that it’s clear, confident, and friendly, and make sure I sound like a professional but not too formal: [paste your rough draft].”
When to Open Claude
Claude shines when you’re working with longer, more complex, or more strategic content and want to create visuals layouts from information dense documents.
Think:
- Cleaning up long documents: policies, SOPs, onboarding guides
- Turning brain‑dump documents into a clear strategy or plan
- Drafting training materials for your team
- Asking, “Does this make sense? What am I missing?” around a decision or plan
- Breaking down dense, technical, or messy information into something presentation‑ready
- Mocking up website page layouts or slide deck outlines
Example prompt you can copy:
“I run a small service business with a team of [X] people. This is my rough draft of a client communication policy. Please rewrite it so it’s clear, simple, and easy for my team to follow. Ask me any clarifying questions if something is vague: [paste draft].”
Claude is very good at “big‑picture clarity” and at working through longer text without you needing to chop it into tiny pieces first.
Claude Code is something different than what I’m talking about (yes confusing because apparently AI just has to be complicated). We’ll talk about that another time!
“But I’m Not Technical. Is This Really for Me?”
You do not need to be technical to use either tool. You already know how to manage people, clients, and decisions, that’s the hard part. Talking to these tools is closer to delegating than to coding.
A few truths I want you to hear clearly:
- You don’t need perfect prompts; you need honest ones.
- You’re allowed to say, “This didn’t help, try again in a simpler way.”
- Your leadership experience is exactly what makes you good at using AI, because you know what “good” looks like in your business.
- You’ll get better at asking and directing as you use AI.
If a reply feels off, you haven’t “failed at AI” and it’s not that “AI is no good.” It just means you and the tool need to keep iterating, the same way you would with a new hire.
So… Which One Should You Start With?
If you only have energy to learn one right now, I’d suggest starting with ChatGPT for most women leading small service businesses, because:
- It gives you quick wins: faster emails, better wording, clearer messaging
- It fits into tasks you already do daily
- It builds your confidence fast, then you can layer Claude in later for deeper work
- And most people started on ChatGPT and they’re still using it over Claude
Once you’re comfortable, add Claude as your “long‑form and strategy buddy” for policy drafts, SOPs, training materials, deep document review, and big‑picture thinking.
If You Only Try 3 Things This Week, Start Here
- Turn ideas into structure
“Here’s a brain dump of something I want to build in my business. Turn this into a clear plan with steps, priorities, and what to do first: [paste notes].”
- Turn notes into action
“Turn these notes into a clear task list with priorities: [paste notes].”
- Repurpose something you already have
“Turn this into a LinkedIn post that sounds natural and not salesy: [paste text].”
If You Have a Team…
Please don’t keep this to yourself.
- Share the things you’re doing in ChatGPT or Claude
- Create custom GPTs to help your team do something you all do, in a more consistent manner (think of these as detailed saved prompts for things you do all the time)
- Give your team clarity so they’re not reinventing the wheel every time.
This is where AI starts to really improve your work.
A Simple Rule of Thumb
You can literally use this as your mental sticky note:
- “I need to get something out the door (email, post, idea, draft) → open ChatGPT.”
- “I need to think deeply or clean up something long and messy → open Claude.”
Common Mistakes (That Make AI Feel Frustrating)
- Being too vague
→ “Help me with marketing” vs. “Help me create a marketing campaign that [enter your goal “sells more tickets for an event”] using [social/newsletter “LinkedIn and Instagram and my email list”].” - Expecting one perfect answer
→ AI is iterative, not one‑and‑done. Have a conversation with it. - Not giving context
→ The more it knows about your business, the better it performs. - Giving up too quickly
→ The second or third prompt is usually where it clicks.
Once you’ve gotten comfortable using ChatGPT and/or Claude and you’re ready to dive a bit deeper. Read this and I’ll show you exactly how I organize all my AI chats and projects so nothing gets lost and everything is reusable.