What is a SOP?
You may or may not know already, but a
SOP is a
“Standard Operating Procedure.”
It’s a series of steps for any given task (or tasks) in your business about how to do various things. It’s an instruction manual for all the little parts of your business that you don’t think about or take for granted.
- Packing boxes for OA? There’s a SOP for that.
- Responding to customers who want a return? SOP.
- Answering your emails? You better believe there’s a SOP there.
Why do you need a SOP?
Well the short answer is you don’t, really
.
- If you enjoy doing all the small or large tasks in your business
- Or you’re an insane control freak
→ SOPs are probably not for you.
This is mainly because the idea of outsourcing jobs seems insane to you
(
“No one can do it as good as me, I tell ya!”)
For everyone else? A
SOP is freedom.
- It’s freedom to write a blog post
- Learn new sourcing tactics
- Or explore private label strategy videos
Writing a SOP and offloading a task to a VA or a trusted employee is:
- The only way you’ll ever get yourself out of your business
- And the only way your business will ever have a chance at being sold
If you were to remove yourself from the business day-to-day tasks, it should keep right on going.
Wealth isn’t money.
Wealth is freedom to not have to worry about money.
Get going and build some SOPs!
How to Get Started With SOPs
Step one: Figure out how exactly you’re spending your time.
How do you really know what it is that is taking the most time in an average day?
Do this for one week:
- Write down everything you do in your business
- Note the task, the time you started, and the time you ended
- When you start a new task, repeat
At the end of the week:
- Tally up the tasks and the time spent
- You’ll see clearly where your time is going
- Then decide what needs to be outsourced first
Alternatively... The 80/20 Rule
Ever heard of the Pareto Principle?
It says that 80% of your outcomes come from 20% of your inputs.
In your business:
- What products are bringing in 80% of your profits?
→ It’s probably only 20% of your products.
- Find those products. Double down.
Now ask yourself:
- Can you outsource tasks to sell more of those 20% items?
- Or to find more of those 20% items?
Probably.
This logic also applies to tasks:
→ 80% of your income likely comes from 20% of your tasks.
How to Make a SOP the Right Way
If the idea of making a SOP gives you stomach cramps, here’s the
easiest — and most effective — way:
Record a video.
Use
Loom or any screen-recording tool. Actually record yourself doing the process.
- For physical tasks (like packing boxes), just use your phone.
- It’s quicker, easier to understand, and done in real time.
- We're running small businesses here — not multi-gazillion-dollar companies.
Just record a video and give it to your VA or employee.
Uh oh, the process changed? Amazon made an update?
→ Just record
another 3-minute video and move on.
Actually go through the task as if you were doing it.
It might take a few tries, but it’s super easy once you get the hang of it.
You can still write things down, but if the idea of documenting your whole business sounds like a mountain of work —
start with video.
Here’s a Basic SOP Outline (Written or Video):
- Purpose: Why are we doing this task? Why is it important?
- Timing: When should the task be done?
- (Don’t say “filter my emails every day” — say “please have my emails filtered and read by 8 AM PST Monday to Friday”)
- Steps: Go through them clearly (1, 2, 3, 4…)
- Done!
Perfection is the Enemy of Done
So you mess up speaking or aren’t completely clear.
Don’t worry about it.
The main idea is to just get going and begin outsourcing tasks by writing (or recording) SOPs.
Avoid wasting time making the punctuation or grammar perfect — just. get. it. done.
Have Something to Do With the Extra Time
This happened to me when I started writing SOPs and hiring out parts of my business.
- I already had someone doing my bookkeeping (no SOP needed there)
- Also had someone for sourcing, graphic design, etc.
Next big task:
Inventory Management
- Took a few months
- Lots of SOPs
- Lots of back and forth with the new hire
→ But it was worth it
Now I’m in the nitty gritty of my business a lot less and I have way more time.
One problem — what the heck do I do with all this time?
We’re often obsessed with being busy.
We think busy = productive.
It doesn’t.
I could be busy all day packing boxes — but that’s not the highest ROI thing I could do.
I should be doing
growth-oriented tasks:
- Learning
- Exploring new markets
- Launching new products
It took a while to retrain my brain and just get out of the way.
I still struggle sometimes and find myself packing boxes again.
But
SOPs can help you gain time and grow your business — not just keep the lights on.
