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Medium Free 25 minutes

How to Create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Document your processes so you can delegate, train helpers, and scale your business.

What You'll Need

Steps

1

Pick a process to document first

Start with something you do often.

  • Think about tasks you'd want to hand off to a helper
  • Good first SOPs: Truck loading, job site cleanup, customer walkthrough
  • Pick something you do at least weekly
  • Start simple — don't try to document everything at once
Tip: If you can't explain it step-by-step, you can't delegate it.
2

Brain dump the steps to ChatGPT

Let ChatGPT organize your rough notes into a proper SOP.

  • Go to chat.openai.com
  • Type: 'Help me create an SOP for [task]. Here's what I typically do: [describe the process in your own words, even messily]'
  • ChatGPT will organize it into clear, numbered steps
3

Review and add details

Make sure nothing is missing.

  • Read through each step — does it make sense to someone who's never done it?
  • Add warnings for common mistakes
  • Include what 'done right' looks like
  • Add time estimates for each section
4

Add visuals if helpful

A picture is worth a thousand words.

  • Take photos of key steps
  • Record a quick video walkthrough
  • Screenshots for any software steps
  • Store in a shared folder (Google Drive works great)
Tip: Video SOPs are great for complex physical tasks.
5

Store and organize your SOPs

Make them easy to find and update.

  • Create a Google Drive folder called 'SOPs'
  • Name files clearly: 'SOP - Truck Loading' not 'document 1'
  • Share the folder with employees/helpers
  • Review and update SOPs every 6 months
6

Test the SOP

The real test is whether someone can follow it.

  • Have someone else try to follow the SOP
  • Watch where they get confused or stuck
  • Ask them what's unclear
  • Update based on their feedback

You're Done!

You created your first SOP! This is how you build a business that can run without you.

Pro Tips

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