If you want your business to scale, run without you, or even sell one day, you need great SOPs.
They’re the foundation for automation, delegation, and even AI workflows. Without them, every system in your business rests on the fragile memory of the people doing the work.
Here’s the problem:
Most SOPs are either out of date, ignored, or never built in the first place. And for most founders, the idea of sitting down to “document everything” feels like an unending chore.
I’ve spent years building systems for founders, and I’ve landed on four unbreakable principles that make SOPs easier to create, better to use, and impossible to ignore.
If an SOP isn’t tied to a Directly Responsible Individual and a metric they’re accountable for, it will die in the wild.
Start with an org chart. Make sure every function of your business has a clear owner. Then, assign metrics to those owners.
If something breaks, you’ll know who’s responsible — and that person will know it too.
Set a regular cadence (monthly, quarterly — whatever works for you) to ask your team:
“Which tasks do you find yourself doing more than twice a month?”
If it’s repetitive, it needs an SOP. You don’t need to document everything at once. You just need to chip away at the list over time.
SOP creation should never be a separate project on your to-do list.
Instead:
You’ve built the SOP without typing a single word.
When you have an SOP for something, keep it open while you work. If something changes - a better step, a new tool, a different order - update it in real time.
This way, SOPs evolve with your business. You’ll never have to block a day for “SOP maintenance” again.
SOPs aren’t just paperwork. They’re the DNA of a business that can scale, run without you, and grow in value.
Follow these four principles, and SOPs will stop being a dusty document folder and start being the playbook that drives your business forward.
Reply here to let me know if you want a copy of our “SOP Creation” SOP!
Happy Friday!
Aaron