So you have a million-dollar business idea or you are trying to make more of your current hustle. It doesn't matter why you are shaking things up in your industry; it's the how you need to sort. To slay the competition, you gotta slay your organizational processes. 

Where do I even begin, Jas? By using standard operating procedures (SOPs), of course! 

A good SOP is the heartbeat of any organization. It helps to keep everything crystal clear and guide you, employees, or contractors, as you navigate the entrepreneurial world. 

You want to make money, right? You want to grow your company and bring in the bags, but you can't get there without planning. Let me tell you, girl; it's impossible without a business strategy, systems, processes, and business automation.

To go from $0 to hero, you need help. Develop a little SOP sidekick to help you scale with less pain. Without one, you will quickly learn how challenging it is to hire and train employees, take on more clients/customers, and grow. Don't get stuck where you are or end up with entrepreneurial burnout because you lack business organization! To get down with SOP's...come along with me!

What's The Deal With SOPs?

Creating SOPs is a lot like graduating high school and finally heading to the world of adulting. Start moving your hustle to the big league by educating yourself on the importance of processes. One of the best articles I read on the subject was this one on Entrepreneur.com. It shows how draining and time-consuming it is to stumble through building a business without proper procedures. Can you imagine, you've been working this hard for this long to still be operating at a toddler or preschooler-age? Uh uh! It's time to step away from the sandbox my friends, and level up!!!

But What The Heck Is An SOP? 

It's simple, really. An SOP is step-by-step instructions for any process that helps you run your business. Within those processes, you will try to find as many ways to automate the steps as possible (that's a whole other article….next time!!). SOPs allow you to provide consistency in your business, increase your productivity, and reduce STRESS….don't you want a piece of that? Can I get an amen? Amen!! 

By the way, SOPs are everywhere! In our morning routine, in how our children may get ready for school, or how we carry out our 9-5 work every day. Wanna make a coffee? You follow a process. Need to do some laundry? You follow a process. Wanna be sitting sipping cocktails on a yacht in the Caribbean while your business makes you millions? Yeah, you got it, your business will follow a process! (Disclaimer: Caribbean yacht cocktail-sipping isn't guaranteed, but you certainly won't get there without following procedures - even buying a lottery ticket has an SOP!)

When Should I Begin Building Them? 

Right away, don't delay! I know so many people tell you, girl, don't worry about it! But sis, if you are truly trying to replace the income from your 9 to 5 with your side business, part-time hustle, or trying to achieve that 6-figure or more mark, you need SOPs. Get on them now so you can get on with earning bigger bucks. 

Take a leaf outta my book: I'm a licensed healthcare provider. I started my business when I just got so tired of working in a toxic work environment (Listen to my story on my podcast). I had no particular business training, but sheer guts, enthusiasm, and passion were my superpowers. 

After about two years of running a business with multiple streams of income: speaking, event planning, online courses/webinars, podcasting, and coaching...I was TIRED. The assistants I hired were not living up to my expectations, and I felt like I was doing more training than income-generating tasks.

But it wasn't really the assistants' fault; they were awesome, but they could never figure out what next to do. I was overwhelmed by all of the responsibilities and consistently playing catch up with my quickly depleting bank account. Needless to say, it left me feeling uninspired and ultimately affected the quality of content I put out to my community. I was drowning and taking my poor assistants with me! 

Eventually, I realized that I needed help to stay afloat, so I found a coach who specialized in helping women get more freedom while working less. Music to my ears! It was like a life raft pulled up alongside and dragged me aboard. 

When I got my act together by organizing my company, my time, and my resources, I could focus on what truly mattered in my business. Then I finally reached that pivotal 6-figure mark. Cha-ching! Please learn from my mistakes, and do it now! 

3 ways to build your first SOP

I'm throwing you a lifeline by giving you three super quick ways to start your first SOP. Then just duplicate, repeat, and use to build your organization business flow like the boss lady you are.

#1 Figure out the biggest pain point in your business. What would you absolutely love to delegate first?

With that figured out, take the time to write out each step that it takes to achieve completion on that specific task. I outsource and delegate for the Breakthrough to Excellence podcast, for example. I took the time to write a step-by-step guide of how I run my podcast and wrote each of the elements into a checklist form. 

#2 Create subtasks under the first list created. 

Think of how you can further breakdown tasks in that list. Going back to my example, "Edit podcast" is one of the items in my checklist. I break this down further into subtasks of all the things necessary to edit my podcast and write down each step needed to fulfill the tasks.

#3 Add in supplemental information to help complete that task.

Can you video yourself while completing the job by using a free tool like LOOM? Can you create screenshots of pertinent steps of the procedure? Include all the details! Whatever floats your boat, but just make sure that it is clear on how to get it done. 

When editing my podcast, I create video recordings, excel spreadsheets, and a dropbox folder to help with the organization of the editing process for episodes. They are all interconnected and fully explained in a video and accessible in one central location. 

Need to know more? Check out my free 9-module course where I explain how I organize my business and take a look at this great article on writing SOPs. 

The bottom line is; if you wanna jump ship from the 9-5 ferry, grab an SOP. Get your business organized, create processes, and automation to steer your company into calmer waters. 

Work smarter, not harder with the help of my podcasts and the tricks and tools that I share, and soon you will be cruising into the sunset of success like the boss that you are!