How to Create Your First SOP (Without Documenting Your Entire Business)

Written by Alyssa Schneider, Founder/CEO of Creating Freedom Agency

You’re waiting for things to slow down before you tackle this.

You don’t trust anyone to do it as well as you do.

You tell yourself you’ll get to it “next quarter” when you have more time (but something else inevitably pops up).

Meanwhile… You’re still doing everything yourself, answering the same questions over & over again, holding crucial info in your head, and working through weekends – all because no one else seems to understand how things actually work in the business.

Why You Need to Start Documenting Business Processes

I know you want to step away – whether for a real day off, a full ass vacation, or even just to have some focused time to work on the project that’s been sitting on the backburner for months now.

But you don’t trust that things will get done right if you’re not the one doing it, or at the very least – checking to make sure it’s done correctly.

And tbh, you might be right.

If there’s no system, no process, and no clear definition of “done right” – things very likely will fall through the cracks if & when you step back.

Which is exactly why you need to start documenting your processes.

You Don’t Need 20 SOPs to Feel the Impact

Buuuut… You don’t need 20 perfectly formatted SOPs before you can feel the impact.

You need ONE. Maybe two. Then three, four, five… And so on.

The belief that you have to document your entire business before you can step away is just another business myth keeping you trapped.

My belief is that your business should serve your life – not consume it. Standard operating procedures aren’t about corporate efficiency bullshit. They’re about building a business that remembers you’re a whole human with a life outside of work to be lived.

How to Decide Which Process to Document First

One of the things I hear so often is “I don’t even know where to start with SOPs” – so let’s start there.

Here’s how to pick your first process to document:

Ask yourself these three questions:

1. What do I do repeatedly? (Daily or weekly tasks beat monthly ones)
2. What causes the most issues when it goes wrong? (Think: client onboarding mishap vs. forgetting to reply to an email. Bonus points if it directly impacts client experience or revenue.)
3. What would give me immediate relief if someone else could handle it? (The thing making you tired just thinking about it)

Your answer is probably sitting at the intersection of those three questions.

Common Processes to Document First

Some common starting points for your first SOP:

• Client onboarding process
• Client deliverable handovers
• Content creation workflow
• Responding to new inquiries/leads
• Email management system
• Project kickoff procedures

Still not sure which business process to document? Pick the thing you explained to someone most recently. If you just walked a team member or contractor through how to do something – that’s your first SOP.

How to Actually Write Your First SOP

Once you’ve picked your process, you need a starting point. Grab our free SOP template here – it includes instructions, examples, and prompts so you’re not staring at a blank page wondering WTF to write.

When you’re creating SOPs, remember this: start messy. Refine as you go. Done is always better than perfect.

The goal isn’t to write the perfect process documentation on your first try. The goal is to get it out of your head and into a format someone else can follow. You’ll improve it every time you or someone else uses it.

What If You Don’t Have Time to Document Processes?

If you’re reading this thinking “I get it Alyssa, but I still don’t have the time/energy/capacity to create SOPs myself”…

That’s literally what we do at Creating Freedom Agency. We come in, document your business processes, build your systems, and manage your operations so you can step back without a single thing falling apart.

We’ve done this for dozens of clients – from solopreneurs to teams of 25+. We know how to get into your brain, pull out how things work, make them better where it’s needed (and leave them where it’s not), and turn it into clear standard operating procedures your team can follow.

If you want to chat about what operations support could look like for your business, book a Systems Session here. And if you’re still not sure where to start with documenting your processes, drop me a DM and I’ll be happy to chat it through with you. <3