Before we set anything up, here is what Claude actually does for a business like yours. Not theory. Not a demo. Real work, happening right now.
What Claude Can Do For You
Draft Client Emails
In your tone, with your context. Not generic AI copy. Emails that sound like you wrote them, in seconds.
Research in 60 Seconds
Competitor analysis, market trends, regulatory updates. Ask a question, get a sourced answer. No more tab-hopping.
Summarise Meetings
Feed in your notes, get the action items pulled out and the follow-ups drafted. Ten minutes of admin done in one.
Generate Documents
Reports, proposals, onboarding packs, blog posts. Formatted, branded, and written in your voice. Ready to review and send.
How I Use Claude In My Business
Chris Latham, Optimus Consulting
I run multiple businesses. Claude is embedded in all of them. Here are five things it handles for me every week.
1. Branded visibility audits for prospects. Claude handles the research, the scoring, and the finished report. What used to take days is done in hours.
2. My entire client engagement funnel. Strategy documents, discovery meeting tools, scope of work documents, on-site assessment tools. Four stages, one consistent brand, every document generated in minutes.
3. Weekly LinkedIn content. Claude analyses what performed last week, drafts three posts in my voice, and has them ready for Monday morning. Plus a weekly AI industry brief.
4. Morning inbox digest across two mailboxes. Every weekday, Claude scans both my email accounts, pulls out the real action items, checks my calendar, and gives me a 60-second read before I start.
5. Client onboarding packs, welcome emails, and invoices. New client? Contract, welcome pack, onboarding checklist, monthly invoices, and the day-one email. All branded, all from a single brief.
The Difference Foundation Files Make
None of the above works without foundation files. They are the reason Claude knows my brand, my tone, my clients, and my rules. Without them, every conversation starts from scratch. With them, Claude is ready before I type a word.
This guide builds yours in about ten minutes.
Claude Foundations
This guide walks you through setting up Claude to understand your business, your voice, and your goals. By the end, you will have a set of foundation files that make every conversation with Claude faster, sharper, and more relevant to your work.
Why This Matters
Without foundation files, every Claude conversation starts from zero. You explain who you are, what your business does, and how you want things written. Every single time.
With foundations, Claude already knows. Your role, your company, your audience, your tone, your rules. You skip the setup and go straight to the work.
Choose Your Level
Foundation
Three files. Everything Claude needs to know about you, your company, and how you want things written.
about-me.md (your identity and role)
my-company.md (business context)
writing-style.md (voice and rules)
Advanced
Full Setup
Foundation files plus custom skills, memory system, and automated workflows tailored to your operations.
Everything in Foundation
Custom skills for your workflows
Memory system for ongoing context
Scheduled automations
Sector-specific templates
Advanced Setup
The Advanced setup is a bespoke engagement. Complete the Foundation level here, then we will build your custom skills, memory system, and automations in a dedicated session. This guide covers everything you need for the Foundation.
Getting Started
Before we build your foundation files, make sure you have Claude set up and ready.
Setup Checklist
1
Sign up for Claude Go to claude.ai and create an account. Free works to get started. Pro (US$20/month) removes usage limits and unlocks Projects, which is where your foundation files live.
2
Create a Project In the left sidebar, click Projects, then New Project. Name it something like "Business Assistant" or your company name. This project is where your foundation files will be uploaded.
3
Understand what foundation files do When you upload files to a Claude Project, every conversation in that project starts with Claude having read those files. It already knows your context before you type a word. No more explaining yourself every time.
Already on Claude?
If you already have an account and know how Projects work, skip straight to the next step. We are going to build your three foundation files.
Tips for Better Results
7 Quick Wins When Prompting Claude
Scope it. Tell Claude what you want and what you do not want. Boundaries sharpen the output.
Cap the length. "Keep it under 200 words" or "3 bullet points max." Short instructions get short answers.
Phrase as "do". "Write a summary" beats "Can you maybe summarise this?" Direct instructions, direct results.
Use action verbs. Draft, list, compare, rewrite, simplify. The verb sets the format.
Name your tools. If you want Claude to search the web, check your calendar, or read an email, say so.
Set the tone. "Write this like an email to a client" or "Make it casual, like a Slack message." Claude mirrors what you ask for.
Go beyond basics. Once your foundation files are in place, try chaining tasks: "Read my last 5 emails, summarise the actions, and draft replies."
File 1: About You
This file tells Claude who you are, what you do, and what you care about. It shapes every response to fit your perspective.
Your answers save automatically on this device as you type. You can close the tab and come back.
Your Details
Your Focus
The 3-4 things that fill your working week.
How do you measure a good week or a good quarter?
The recurring friction points. The things you wish worked better.
Your Audience
Clients, team members, insurers, partners, prospects. Who are you writing for and talking to?
How Claude Should Work With You
This is the bit most people skip and it makes the biggest difference. Tell Claude how to behave with you.
File 2: Your Company
This file gives Claude the business context it needs. What your company does, who it serves, and what makes it different.
Company Basics
Write this as if explaining to someone who has never heard of you. One paragraph. Plain English.
Positioning
The things clients actually say about you, not the things you put in brochures.
Defining who you don't serve sharpens Claude's output as much as defining who you do.
Two or three names and the honest difference. Useful whenever Claude drafts content or positioning.
List the main things you offer. Keep it to 5-8 items.
Numbers and Goals
Revenue, client count, retention rate, new business. Whatever matters to the board or to you. Only include figures you're comfortable having visible in any conversation in this project.
File 3: Writing Style
This file trains Claude to write like you, not like a robot. The words you use, the words you hate, and the rules that make your communications feel like yours.
Your Voice
Think about how you write emails, talk to clients, present to the team.
The way you naturally talk. Phrases your team would recognise as "you."
Show, Don't Tell
An email, a LinkedIn post, a paragraph you're proud of. Claude learns your voice far better from real examples than from descriptions. This is the single most useful field on this page.
The Ban List
The corporate speak, the buzzwords, the things that make you cringe.
Things that make content feel "AI-generated" or corporate.
Formatting Rules
Short paragraphs or long? Lists or prose? Formal or casual?
Things like UK spelling, date formats, how to refer to the company, etc.
Optional: Connect Your Tools
Your foundations are done and downloaded. This part is optional, do it now or come back to it later. Foundation files tell Claude who you are. Connectors let Claude work with the tools you already use. Email, calendar, meeting notes, file storage. The more Claude can see, the less you have to copy and paste.
What Are Connectors?
Connectors link Claude to your existing business tools. Instead of copying an email into Claude and asking "what should I reply?", Claude reads the email directly and drafts the response in your voice. Instead of typing up meeting notes, Claude pulls them from your meeting recorder and summarises the actions.
Essential Connectors
Email (Gmail)Recommended
Claude reads your inbox, searches for threads, and drafts replies in your voice. Perfect for client correspondence, renewal chasing, and insurer follow-ups. Set up via the Gmail connector in Claude's settings.
Requires a Google Workspace or Gmail account.
Email (Microsoft 365)Recommended
Same as Gmail but for Outlook. Claude reads your Outlook inbox, calendar, and can work across Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in a single conversation. The Outlook add-in is now in public beta.
Requires a Microsoft 365 business tenant (not personal @outlook.com accounts).
Google Calendar / Outlook Calendar
Claude sees your schedule. Ask "what's my day look like?" or "when am I free this week for a 30-minute call?" and get answers without switching apps. Also useful for prepping meeting briefs. "What do I need to know before my 2pm with Aviva?"
Productivity Connectors
Granola (Meeting Notes)Highly Recommended
Granola records and transcribes your meetings automatically. Connected to Claude, it means you can ask "what were the action items from my call with The Broking Group?" and get a clean summary without watching the recording. Meeting intelligence without the admin.
Download Granola at granola.ai. Works on Mac and Windows.
Google Drive / OneDrive
Claude reads documents from your file storage. Useful when you want to reference a proposal, a policy document, or a report without uploading it manually each time.
Slack / Microsoft Teams
If your team communicates via Slack or Teams, Claude can read channels and threads. Ask "what did the team discuss about the Johnson renewal?" and Claude finds it. Useful for team leads who need to stay across conversations without reading everything.
How to Connect
1
Open Claude Settings In Claude, go to your profile icon, then Settings, then Connectors (or Integrations depending on your plan).
2
Authorise each connector Click the connector you want, sign in with your account for that service, and grant permissions. Claude will only access what you authorise.
3
Test it Start a new conversation and try a simple request. "Show me my most recent emails" or "What meetings do I have tomorrow?" If it works, the connector is live.
Start With Two
You do not need every connector on day one. Start with email and Granola. Those two alone will save you 30-60 minutes a day. Add the others as you find specific needs for them.
Review Your Files
Here are your three foundation files, built from what you have entered. Review each one, then download them ready to upload to your Claude Project.
about-me.md
my-company.md
writing-style.md
Check Before You Download
Read through each file. If anything looks wrong or incomplete, go back and update it. These files will shape every conversation Claude has with you, so it is worth getting them right.
Download and Upload
Download your foundation files, then upload them to your Claude Project. Three files, two minutes, and Claude knows your business.
Download Your Files
How to Upload
1
Open your Claude Project Go to claude.ai, open the project you created in Step 1.
2
Click "Add content" in the Project Knowledge panel Upload all three .md files. Claude will read them at the start of every conversation in this project.
3
Test it Start a new conversation in the project. Ask Claude: "What do you know about me and my business?" It should be able to answer without you telling it anything.
Keep Them Updated
Your foundation files are not set in stone. As your business evolves, update them. New services, new goals, new team members. Claude works best when the files reflect where you are now, not where you were six months ago.
You have your foundations. The next level is custom skills (automated workflows for your specific operations), a memory system (so Claude remembers context across conversations), and scheduled automations. This is a bespoke engagement built around your business.