Discover how to put Claude Code to work for your own business, from installing to your first skill, and why the difference is in how well you explain what you want, not in code.
Max from Remote SkillsWorks from Portugal and builds in public
~/my-project
$ claude✻ Read CLAUDE.md> make a plan first● Plan ready: 3 steps
📁 my-project 📄 CLAUDE.md new 📁 .claude/skills 📄 quote/SKILL.md new
Why this guide
Before we start
Max from Remote Skills · works from Portugal
Many business owners think building software is only for developers. But you already have the most important knowledge: you know how your trade works, where it goes wrong in practice and what your clients really need.
Claude Code is Claude that does not just talk, it also works: reading, creating and editing files on your own computer. I build my whole platform with it. Combine your expertise with Claude Code and you build tools that do exactly what you mean.
This starter kit takes you from installing to your first own skill, with a fill-in canvas and a route map. You need no coding knowledge, just some curiosity and an hour of quiet. You build for your own business first. Want to build for others too afterwards? Further down you see which skill suits you, how you earn with it and how you find clients.
Max
For whomFor business owners who want to use Claude Code without being a developer.
At a glance
What you will discover
Four questions this guide answers, plus your route map. Tap a topic to jump there.
Before we start: what are you doing it for? Pick everything that speaks to you, there is no wrong answer. Your choices end up on your canvas later.
What matters to you?
Let us be honest
What is in your way right now?
Everyone runs into something, that is part of it. Pick what applies to you, even if it is more than one thing. It goes on your canvas, so you see what your next step needs to be about.
What is holding you back right now?
Your head start
You do not have to be a developer
These are the three things you can already do, and they make the difference with Claude Code. Claude writes the code. You make sure it knows what to build, for whom and why.
💬
Explaining what you want
If you can explain a job to a colleague, you can give Claude Code a job. A good brief is half the work.
🧩
Thinking logically
First this, then that, and what if it goes wrong? Working out that order is not programming, it is common sense.
🎯
Knowing what good looks like
You know your trade and your client. You see whether the result is right, and Claude cannot do that for you.
✦ The formula
📚What you bringYour expertise
You know how your trade works, where it goes wrong in practice and what your clients really need. That is exactly the knowledge a developer usually lacks.
+plus
🛠️What the skill addsClaude Code
Claude Code builds what you explain: files, tools and small AI employees on your own computer. You describe, Claude builds, and together you adjust until it is right.
=equals
✦What it deliversA working solution
Together it becomes a solution that fits exactly how your business works. A tool that saves you time every week, or one you can offer to clients.
Claude Code is not a programming language you have to learn. It is a colleague that builds what you explain. The better you explain, the better the result, and explaining is something you can already do.
Exercise
What do you want to build, and for whom?
Write down which jobs you would like to have built or automated, for yourself or for someone else, and next to each line put who it is for and what it solves. Your answers are saved on this device and come along when you save the guide as a PDF.
What I want to buildFor whom, and what does it solve?
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🗺️
Your build cardIncluded when you save the guide as a PDF.
Fill in something above and your starting card appears here. Pick your skillset further down and it is added too.
What I want to build
What I still do by hand
My skillset
Next step
Pick your skillset, look at the earning models and tick off the route map.
The four skillsets
Which skill suits you?
Want to build for others too? With Claude Code you can build in each of these four directions. You only need to pick one to start. Choose the skill you like the look of most, not the one you think you should choose.
🎨AI CreatorCreative
Brings visibility and attention
Suits
For people who like to write, tell stories, take photos or come up with ideas, and enjoy making something beautiful.
What you mean to others
You let Claude Code build content machines: from one idea to posts, emails and visuals in your client's style. You guard the tone, Claude does the making.
What it brings you
A steady place with a few clients who count on you every week, with work you can put your creativity into.
📈AI ScalerCommercial
Brings clients and revenue
Suits
For people who are results driven, like goals and enjoy it when something actually happens.
What you mean to others
You build websites, landing pages and follow-up for businesses that want more enquiries. With Claude Code a first version is up in an afternoon.
What it brings you
Work with a result your client sees straight away, and therefore clients who like to keep working with you for a long time.
⚙️AI OperatorSupportive
Gives people their time back
Suits
For people who like to help, keep things organised and are happy with a tidy workplace, a digital one included.
What you mean to others
You build AI employees that take over manual work: answering customer questions, preparing quotes, entering data. One skill per job, with your work instructions.
What it brings you
Grateful clients and recurring work, because nobody wants to lose a system that saves them time.
💻AI VibecoderAnalytical
Builds custom apps and software
Suits
For people who like puzzles, think logically and enjoy figuring out how things work.
What you mean to others
You build custom tools, apps and software, by telling Claude Code exactly what you want. This is where Claude Code shines most.
What it brings you
The finest custom projects. It is the most advanced profile though: expect a bit more steering, that is part of it.
💡 Max's tip
Torn between two? Start with the skill you feel like doing most. You combine later, once the first one runs well.
Earning models
What you can earn with it
What you earn depends on your offer, your clients and your effort, so I make no promises about that. I will tell you how to set it up smartly. Roughly speaking there are four ways to sell your work.
⏱️
By the hour
You charge for every hour you work.
Pros
Easy to start with
Fair and simple to explain
Cons
You only earn while you work
Work faster with AI and you earn less
📦
Per project
You agree a fixed price for a clearly scoped result.
Pros
Your client knows where they stand
Work smartly with AI and you keep time to spare
Cons
After every project you look for the next job
Your income goes up and down per month
🔁
Subscription
Your client pays monthly for a service that keeps running.
Pros
Predictable, month after month
Every new client stacks on top of the last
Cons
Harder to start with before you have proven results
You keep delivering every month
⭐⭐ Our favourite
Project plus subscription
You build something custom for a fixed price. After that your client pays monthly for use, maintenance and improvements.
Pros
A solid start and an ongoing base
Your client stays helped, you build something up
Cons
Needs an offer that keeps working after delivery
⭐
Why this is our favourite: every client you help, stays. Your base grows month after month and you need to chase new jobs less and less. That is where the freedom is.
Finding clients
Four routes to your first clients
You do not have to start with strangers. Pick one route, do it well, and add another one later.
🤝01→ Start here
Your own business and network
Build something for yourself first, so you can show it. Then ask around your network who has the same job lying around. A working example sells itself.
✍️02
Content about what you build
Share on one channel what you make with Claude Code, with a short screen recording. Building in public: people see what you can do and come to you with questions.
📞03
Contacting businesses directly
Pick an industry, find a job that costs time there every week and build a small example of it. Send it personally, asking whether they would like to try it.
📢04⭐ Our favourite
Advertising
Once you have a good product and know who your audience is, advertising is the fastest way to grow. It takes a small investment, but you no longer depend on luck or on your calendar.
Your route map
From installing to your first client
Nine stops, in this order. Tick off what you have done: your ticks are saved on this device.
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🚩Start
✓Your first client
💡 Max's tip
Keep your CLAUDE.md short and concrete. Ten clear rules work better than three pages of good intentions.
To copy
Two examples to start with
Your first CLAUDE.mdPut this file in the main folder of your project and fill in the brackets.
CLAUDE.md
# About this project
This is [what it is] for [who uses it].
# About me
I am [name] and I [what you do].
I am not a developer: explain choices briefly and in plain words.
# Fixed rules
- Write in English, addressing the reader as "you".
- Make a plan first and wait for my approval.
- Never delete files without asking.
- Keep texts short and concrete.
Your first skillSave this as .claude/skills/write-quote/SKILL.md in your project folder.
SKILL.md
---
name: write-quote
description: Writes a quote in my style. Use this when I ask for a quote.
---
# Write a quote
## Steps
1. Ask about the client, the job and the deadline.
2. Write the quote in the fixed structure below.
## Rules
- Address the reader as "you", no jargon, no invented prices.
## Example
Good: "You get a new homepage that says what you do at a glance."
Bad: "We deliver a state-of-the-art digital solution."
## Final format
Heading, summary, work, planning, terms.
Your goal, what is in your way, what you want to build, your skill, your earning model, your client route and your route map in one overview, with a conclusion that writes itself from your choices. Save it as a PDF or pin it next to your screen.
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What next
Which route suits you?
We have several concepts: a training programme, a business in a box, ready-made apps to license, implementation programmes and coaching tracks. Which one suits you depends on your goal, so we would love to talk that through with you.
Want to taste in practice which skillset suits you best and set up a first plan straight away? Then choose the tasting, the AI Starter programme.
Want to build seriously, or do you already have something running that you want to scale? Then the Founder or Builder track probably fits, and it is good to talk briefly about which route helps you most.
Remote SkillsFree · Starter kit
Max from Remote SkillsWorks from Portugal and builds in public