Mastering SOPs: The Key to Scaling Your Business
If your business lives entirely in your head, hiring help will feel harder than doing it all yourself. In this episode of Mess to Mission, Linds explains why SOPs have to come before your first hire and walks through a simple, realistic way to get your processes out of your head and onto paper.
Listen now: Spotify | Apple Podcasts
In this episode
Most small business owners wait until they are drowning to document anything. Then the dream hire finally starts, and there is nothing to hand over. Linds covers what counts as a process (more than you think), the documents to have ready when you bring someone on, how to capture a process quickly, and the most common SOP mistakes to avoid.
Key takeaways
"You cannot scale what only lives in your head." Document before you hire, not after.
If you do it more than once, it is a process. Replying to DMs, following up on payments, onboarding clients and restocking supplies all count.
Start with a brain dump. Walk through a month of your calendar, list every task, then circle the ones that would cause the most chaos if done wrong.
Record it while you do it. A screen recording or voice memo is faster than writing from scratch, and more specific than a generic AI template.
Every good SOP includes: why the task matters, step-by-step instructions, the logins and tools needed, an estimated time and what "done right" looks like.
Done is better than perfect. Keep it in one place, write it in plain language, start with your top three to five processes and review them regularly.
Episode timestamps
0:01 A new season of solo teaching episodes
1:00 What to have in place before you hire
2:20 When everything about your business lives in your head
4:13 The "what if you won the lottery" test
6:09 Onboarding documents: job description, policies and handbook
8:04 Hiring a contractor or VA without a documented process
10:03 What actually counts as a process
12:25 Step one: brain dump every task
13:21 Prioritize the tasks that would cause the most chaos
14:21 Document in real time with a recording
15:21 Tools Linds loves for SOPs
18:44 What every SOP should include
21:39 Mistakes to avoid
26:29 Your challenge: document one or two processes this week
Resources mentioned
ClickUp, Linds's favorite place to house SOPs as tasks or docs with checklists (she is a Verified ClickUp Power User)
Notion and Google Drive as other simple, free places to keep SOPs in one spot
How I Plan My Business Week, for building the habits around your systems
Keep listening
Browse all Mess to Mission episodes, and send this one to a business friend who is about to make her first hire.
Want help getting your processes out of your head, alongside women doing the same work? Join the Systems Sanctuary waitlist to be first in the door when it opens November 1.
Comments