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Small Business CRM template

A small business CRM ChatGPT and Claude can read

Orders arrive by WhatsApp, Instagram and email, and the details live in your head. A full CRM is more software than a one or two person business needs. This template keeps customers, orders and your price list in plain notes that ChatGPT and Claude can read and update.

Start with this template

Create a free account. Setup connects your assistant and gives you the template prompt.

Already connected? Copy the template link
https://hjarni.com/templates/small-business-crm

Copy this URL and paste it into Claude or ChatGPT to install the template.

What you can ask

Once your assistant is connected, try these in ChatGPT or Claude.

  • “Add this order to my CRM: [paste the WhatsApp message]”

    Your AI writes an order note with items and prices from your price list, and links it to the customer. A new customer gets a note too.

  • “What do we have to make for Saturday?”

    It reads the orders for that date and lists how many of each product you need.

  • “Does Lotte have any allergies I should know about before I confirm?”

    It checks her customer note and the order, and tells you what is on file.

  • “Which orders for this week are still unpaid?”

    It reads the status lines on this week's orders and lists the open ones.

A week at a small focaccia bakery

Olio & Sale is a sample business, not a customer. We built it to show this template at work.

Olio & Sale bakes focaccia on Saturdays only. Two people run it. Orders arrive all week by WhatsApp, Instagram and email.

Tom pastes each message into Claude and asks it to add the order. Claude checks the price list, writes the order note and links it to the customer. When Lotte orders for a birthday, her customer note already says sesame allergy, so the order note flags it.

On Thursday Sofia opens ChatGPT and asks what to bake. It reads the same orders and lists how many of each focaccia to make. Neither of them retypes anything.

How to use

  1. 1 Connect your assistant. Start with this template to create a free account and connect ChatGPT or Claude. Already connected? Copy the link above.
  2. 2 Ask your AI to set it up. Send the template prompt from setup, or this page’s link, to your connected assistant. It creates the folders, tags, and instructions.
  3. 3 Save a note and try it in a new chat. Add something useful, then ask your assistant to check Hjarni and retrieve it. The template is a starting point for your own material.

Structure

Tags

customer order business

Folders

Small Business CRM
Customers, orders and the price list for a small business.
Has AI instructions
Customers
One note per customer: contact, preferences, allergies, standing orders and history.
Has AI instructions
1 starter note
Orders
One note per order, linked to its customer.
Has AI instructions
1 starter note
Products & Prices
The price list and anything else about what you sell.
Has AI instructions
1 starter note

Common questions

Common questions

Is this a replacement for HubSpot or Salesforce?

No. It is for a business small enough that a few folders of notes are enough: customers, orders and a price list. There are no pipelines, automations or reports.

Will my AI make up prices?

The folder instructions tell it to take every price from your price list and to ask when a product is missing. It can still slip, so check an order before you confirm it.

Can two of us use the same CRM?

Yes, in a team space. Ask your AI to set the template up there. Each person connects their own ChatGPT or Claude, and you both read and update the same notes.

Do I have to enter my old orders?

No. Fill in your price list, then add orders as they come in. Customer notes grow from those orders.

Does it send invoices or reminders?

No. Hjarni stores notes. Your AI can draft an invoice or a reminder from them, and you send it.

For your AI

Share this page with your AI. It reads the definition below, creates the folders, instructions, tags, and starter notes in your account.

Show template definition

Install steps for AI agents:

  1. Check existing tags with tags-list. Only create missing ones with tags-create.
  2. Create containers top-down using containers-create, noting the returned IDs. Use parent_id to build the hierarchy.
  3. For each container with llm_instructions, call instructions-update with level: "container" and the container's ID.
  4. Create any seed notes using notes-create, placing them in the correct container by ID. Use container_path to resolve which container.
  5. Discuss any customizations with the user before or after installing.
---
name: Small Business CRM
description: 'Customers, orders and your price list in notes ChatGPT and Claude can
  read. Paste an order from WhatsApp or email and your AI files it, linked to the
  customer, with prices from your own list.

  '
tags:
- customer
- order
- business
containers:
- name: Small Business CRM
  description: Customers, orders and the price list for a small business.
  llm_instructions: |
    This is the user's customer and order record for a small business. Orders come in by message, email or in person, and the user asks you to file them.
    - Route work by folder: a new order or a change to one goes in Orders; every customer gets one note in Customers, created with their first order; products and prices live in Products & Prices.
    - The "Price list" note is the only source for product names and prices. Use product names exactly as written there. Never invent a price or a product. If something is missing, ask the user.
    - Search before creating. Reuse the existing customer note instead of making a second one for the same person or business.
    - Link every order to its customer with a [[id:Name]] wiki-link, and link the customer note back to the order.
    - When the user asks a question, read the notes first and answer from them. Say when the notes do not have the answer instead of guessing.
    - Record allergies and special requirements in the customer note, and repeat them in every order note where they matter.
    - The starter notes are examples, not this business's data. Do not use anything in a note that still says "This is a starter note" until the user has replaced it or confirmed it.
    - When setting this template up, help the user replace the starter price list with their real products and prices first. Set the Price list note's source_url to https://hjarni.com/templates/small-business-crm.
  children:
  - name: Customers
    description: 'One note per customer: contact, preferences, allergies, standing
      orders and history.'
    llm_instructions: |
      Use this folder for every person or business that orders. Create the note with their first order and reuse it for every order after.
      - Title the note with the customer's name or business name.
      - Use these sections when known: Contact, Preferences, Allergies and requirements, Standing order, History.
      - Keep order details in Orders. Here, add one short History line per order with a link to it.
      - Tag every note "customer", plus "business" for business customers.
  - name: Orders
    description: One note per order, linked to its customer.
    llm_instructions: |
      Use this folder for orders. One note per order.
      - Title: "Order · <date needed> · <customer name>".
      - Body sections: Order (Customer link, Date needed, Pickup or delivery, Status, Paid), Items (one line per product with quantity, product name and price from the price list), Notes (allergies, special requests, where the order came from).
      - Status is one of: new, confirmed, done, cancelled. A new order starts as "new".
      - When changing a confirmed order, write what changed and why under Notes.
      - Never delete a cancelled order. Set its status to cancelled.
      - Tag every note "order".
  - name: Products & Prices
    description: The price list and anything else about what you sell.
    llm_instructions: |
      Use this folder for what the business sells.
      - Keep one "Price list" note as the single source of truth: one line per product with its name and price.
      - When the user changes a price, update the Price list note in place. Note history keeps the old version.
      - Do not copy prices into other notes except into order lines.
  notes:
  - title: Price list
    body: |
      The only place your AI takes product names and prices from. One line per product.

      ## Price list
      - [Product name]: [price]
      - [Product name]: [price]

      ## Discounts and rules
      - [For example: business customers get 10% off]

      This is a starter note. Replace each line with your real products and prices.
    container_path: Small Business CRM > Products & Prices
  - title: Example customer
    body: |
      ## Contact
      - Channel: [WhatsApp, email, Instagram]

      ## Preferences
      - [What they usually order, pickup or delivery]

      ## Allergies and requirements
      - [Anything to watch for]

      ## History
      - [One line per order, linked to the order note]

      This is a starter note. Replace it with a real customer, or delete it.
    tags:
    - customer
    container_path: Small Business CRM > Customers
  - title: Order · example · Example customer
    body: |
      ## Order
      - Customer: Example customer
      - Date needed: [date]
      - Pickup or delivery: [time and place]
      - Status: new
      - Paid: no

      ## Items
      - [quantity] × [Product name from the price list]: [price]

      ## Notes
      [Allergies, special requests, where the order came from]

      This is a starter note. It shows the order format. Delete it once you have a real order.
    tags:
    - order
    container_path: Small Business CRM > Orders

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