Claude Small Business Plugins Overview

In this one-day course, students will be introduced to using the Claude Small Business plugin, which is a powerful automation bundle built directly into the Claude Cowork environment. The course covers some of the conceptual underpinnings of AI agents, skills, and secure application connectors, but the emphasis is on leveraging these features to automate common small business workflows and eliminate back-office administrative overhead. Students will learn how to connect their existing business applications, run prebuilt operational skills via multiple interfaces, enforce strict human-in-the-loop security protocols, and build or customize their own automated workflows from scratch. This instructor-led course consists of a combination of lecture, demonstrations, and hands-on labs. Software Used During the Class The standard lab setup for this class consists of a PC or Mac with the Claude Desktop App installed, an active Claude Pro or Team subscription, and sandbox/test accounts for integrated core business applications (such as Google Workspace, QuickBooks, HubSpot, and Canva).

Introduction to Claude for Small Business What is the Small Business plugin? The Claude desktop product suite: Chat, Cowork, Code, and Design Why focus on Claude Cowork for business operations? Installing the Small Business plugin Setting up projects and workspace environments Working with persistent local memory Working with Connectors and Prebuilt Skills Understanding skills versus plugins The recipe card versus cookbook analogy Overview of the core tool connectors Connecting communication and productivity tools (Gmail, Google Calendar) Connecting financial and payment apps (QuickBooks, PayPal, Stripe, Square) Connecting sales and creative platforms (HubSpot, Canva, DocuSign, Apollo) Security, Governance, and Human-in-the-Loop The trust and data privacy problem in small business AI Overview of the Anthropic Trust Center standards Configuring folder permissions and data access The "Ask before acting" operational mode Designing mandatory human sign-offs Managing multi-app data compliance Executing and Managing Workflows Three ways to run an operational skill Using natural language instructions Triggering workflows with slash commands Navigating the Plus menu interface Analyzing real-time operational readouts Reviewing out-of-the-box skill executions Customizing and Building Custom Skills The 3-question framework: skill or plugin? Modifying out-of-the-box prebuilt skills Adapting workflows to custom business and tax rules Designing a custom skill from scratch without code Testing and debugging skill logic Deploying tailored workflows to your team Advanced Multi-App Automation and Autopilot The Business Pulse and Friday Brief workflows Automating month-end financial closing and invoice chasing Streamlining client meeting prep (Calendar, LinkedIn, and Canva) Automating sales prospecting and B2B outreach with Apollo Turning workflows into scheduled tasks Running business operations on autopilot