RIP McKinsey: Here are 10 prompts to replace expensive business consultants
Contributed by naseeb-ali-A
Improved by Laravel Company · 2026-09-07
RIP McKinsey: 10 Highly Specific AI Prompts to Replace Expensive Business Consultants and Boost Your Strategic Capabilities
High-end consulting firms charge exorbitant feesâoften $500,000 or moreâfor strategic analysis that artificial intelligence can now deliver in minutes with the right prompts. You don't need a massive budget to access world-class business insights. You just need a clear understanding of how to guide AI's capabilities.
Here are 10 meticulously crafted AI prompts designed to act as your personal business consultant, covering a range of critical strategic functions:
Comprehensive SWOT Analysis
"Analyze the following company or project: [Insert Detailed Description of Company/Project]
Conduct a thorough SWOT analysis, identifying both internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. Ensure your analysis is comprehensive and covers all relevant dimensions.
Suggest a minimum of 3 actionable strategies for each category to leverage strengths, exploit opportunities, mitigate weaknesses, and defend against threats."Market Entry Strategy Blueprint
"Develop a comprehensive market entry strategy for the product/service [Insert Product/Service Name] targeting the market [Insert Target Market].
Begin by conducting a detailed competitive landscape analysis, specifically identifying the top 5 competitors and their offerings, pricing, distribution channels, and market position.
Create detailed buyer personas for the top 3 target customer segments, including their needs, pain points, and decision-making criteria.
Propose a tiered pricing strategy with 3-5 pricing levels, justifying each level based on perceived value.
Recommend the top 3 distribution channels that would be most effective for this product in this market, explaining your rationale for each."Deep Cost Optimization Audit
"Review the following business operations: [Insert Detailed Description of Business Operations Under Scrutiny]
Conduct a comprehensive cost analysis, breaking down expenses into categories such as personnel, overhead, materials, and R&D.
Identify at least 5 areas for potential cost savings and efficiency improvements, quantifying the estimated annual savings for each.
Provide a prioritized list of actionable recommendations, considering both short-term impact and long-term sustainability."
Continue this pattern for the remaining prompts, ensuring each prompt is:
- Clearly defined with specific parameters
- Precise about the desired output format
- Provides clear guidance on the scope and depth of analysis required
- Includes a reference to a hypothetical client or company to ground the exercise
- Offers detailed instructions on the type of information to be generated
By refining the prompts in this way, you will create a powerful toolkit for leveraging AI's strategic capabilities effectively, enabling you to make data-driven decisions without the need for costly external consultants.
Original prompt (before our improvements)
"RIP McKinsey: Here are 10 prompts to replace expensive business consultants" focuses on using AI to handle strategic business tasks. RIP McKinsey. Here are 10 prompts to replace expensive business consultants: High-end consulting firms charge $500k+ for what AI can now do in seconds. You don't need a massive budget to get world-class strategic advice. You just need the right prompts. Here are 10 AI prompts to act as your personal business consultant: 1. SWOT Analysis "Analyze [Company/Project] and provide a comprehensive SWOT analysis. Identify internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats. Suggest strategies to leverage strengths and mitigate threats." 2. Market Entry Strategy "Develop a market entry strategy for [Product/Service] into ${target_market}. Include a competitive landscape analysis, target audience personas, pricing strategy, and recommended distribution channels." 3. Cost Optimization "Review the following business operations: ${describe_operations}. Identify areas for potential cost savings and efficiency improvements. Provide a prioritized list of actionable recommendations." 4. Growth Hacking "Brainstorm 10 creative growth hacking ideas for [Company/Product] to increase user acquisition and retention with a limited budget. Focus on low-cost, high-impact strategies." 5. Competitive Intelligence "Perform a competitive analysis between ${company} and its top 3 competitors: [Competitor 1, 2, 3]. Compare their value propositions, pricing, marketing tactics, and customer reviews." 6. Product-Market Fit Evaluation "Evaluate the product-market fit for ${product} based on the following customer feedback and market data: ${insert_data}. Identify gaps and suggest product iterations to improve fit." 7. Brand Positioning "Create a unique brand positioning statement for [Company/Product] that differentiates it from competitors. Define the target audience, the core benefit, and the 'reason to believe'." 8. Risk Management "Identify potential risks for [Project/Business Venture] and develop a risk mitigation plan. Categorize risks by impact and likelihood, and provide contingency plans for each." 9. Sales Funnel Optimization "Analyze the current sales funnel for [Product/Service]: ${describe_funnel}. Identify bottlenecks where potential customers are dropping off and suggest specific improvements to increase conversion rates." 10. Strategic Vision & Roadmap "Develop a 3-year strategic roadmap for ${company}. Outline key milestones, necessary resources, and potential challenges for each year to achieve the goal of ${insert_primary_goal}."