What Is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)? How to Write One

The Short Answer

What Is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)?

Textbook Definition

A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a documented, step-by-step set of instructions for completing a routine task, so it gets done the same way every time by anyone trained on it. Keeping a business's SOPs written and current is called process documentation.

In Plain English

An SOP is the steps for one job, written down, so someone other than you can do it right without calling you. One task. One page. Anyone trained can follow it.

Why It Matters

Why Is a Business Without SOPs a Problem?

If the steps live in one head, the business stops when that head does. That has a name: key-person risk. In most small businesses, the key person is the owner.

Here is the trap. Ask an owner why nothing is written down and you get the same answer every time: "I don't have time." It is true. And the reason there is no time is that nothing is written down. Every question comes to you, so you never get the hour it would take to stop the questions. It feels like efficiency from the inside. From the outside, it is a business with a single point of failure, and you are it.

Signs you have this problem:

  • Your phone rings on your day off with questions only you can answer.
  • New hires take months to get up to speed, and they still call you. (Onboarding is Foundation 17.)
  • Quality changes the moment you leave the building.
  • The same mistake shows up with every new person you train.
  • You have not taken a real week off in years.
  • Everything waits on you. You are the bottleneck.
Two or more of these? You do not have a system yet. You have a very good memory, and memories catch colds.

What It Looks Like

What Happens When a Business Runs on Memory

From the Fabled Forest · Chapter 1

Beatrix the Bee built the honey business the whole forest trusts. She did it the way most small businesses get built: by doing every step herself, and doing it very well. She knew every hive, every order, and which customer wanted the label turned a quarter inch to the left. None of it was written down.

Then she caught a cold. Three days in bed, and not one jar left the building. Her helper had worked there four months and watched every harvest, and she still did not know what order the steps went in. The business had everything it needed: product, customers, equipment, and a willing worker. It just needed Beatrix for every single step.

Doctor Owl did not fix it for her. He sat on the end of her bed with a blank scroll and made her say every step out loud. What happened next is the whole lesson of Chapter 1.

Beatrix's story opens Management and Leadership for Small Businesses, Book 1 of Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series.

Where an SOP Pays Off First

Every business has a handful of routine tasks that stop everything when the one person who knows them is out. Start there.

Restaurants and Food Service

Opening and closing checklists, food prep, temperature logs, and the cash drawer count.

Contractors and Trades

Pricing a job, ordering materials, the job site safety check, and the final walkthrough.

Retail and eCommerce

Receiving inventory, processing returns, packing orders, and closing out the register.

Salons and Personal Services

Booking and confirmations, room or station setup, sanitation, and product reorders.

Transportation and Logistics

Pre-trip inspections, load paperwork, dispatch, and the end-of-day log.

Every Business

Paying bills, running payroll, sending invoices, and the month-end numbers.

The Fix

How to Write a Standard Operating Procedure in 6 Steps

You do not need software or a 50-page manual. You need one task, one helper, and 1 to 3 hours.

  1. Pick one task only you know how to do.

    Start with the one that would stop the business if you disappeared for a week. Not the easiest task. The scariest one.

  2. Do the task while someone else writes.

    Say every step out loud as you go. Every time you say "then you just" or "obviously," stop and say what you actually mean. Obvious is a word for things you know, not things other people know.

  3. Write each step as an action.

    Three things on every line: what to do, where things are, and what could go wrong. "Strain the honey" is not a step. "Strain through the fine strainer in the second cupboard" is.

  4. Hand it over and watch.

    Let the other person do the task from the page while you keep your hands in your pockets. Do not jump in unless something is unsafe or expensive. It is harder than it sounds.

  5. Add every question as a missing step.

    Every time they stop to ask you something, the answer goes on the page. The first solo run is the real first draft.

  6. Do the next one.

    One SOP a week. In three months, the routines that run your business are on paper instead of in your head. That library is your process documentation, and it is the start of delegation, Foundation 2.

Dr. Paul's Insight

If you are the only one who knows how, you do not have a system. You are holding the business hostage, and you are also the hostage. In 14+ years and 1,000+ clients, Dr. Paul has seen the same pattern over and over: the owner is not short on skill. The business is short on paper.

Worked Example: What a Business in One Head Costs A shop does $2,000 a day in sales and everything runs through the owner. The owner is out sick for 3 days and nobody else knows the routine. $2,000 × 3 days = $6,000 in sales that never happen, before counting the customers who do not come back. Writing the first SOP takes about 1 to 3 hours. That is the cheapest insurance policy the business will ever buy. Figures are an illustration to show the math, not a projection for your business.

Sample SOP: Closing Out the Register

Here is what a finished SOP looks like on one page. Copy the format, then swap in your own task.

Task: Closing out the registerWho: Closing shift leadWhen: After the last saleLast updated: the date you change it
StepWhat to doWhere things areWhat could go wrong
1Print the end-of-day sales report.Register, Reports menuPrinting before the last sale is rung up.
2Count the cash drawer, bills first, then coins. Count twice.Back office counting trayTwo counts that do not match. Count a third time.
3Compare your count to the cash total on the report.Cash line on the reportOver or short. Write the difference down. Do not fix it.
4Leave the starting cash in the drawer.Amount is on the drawer labelLeaving too much, or none, for the morning shift.
5Bag the deposit. Write the date, total, and your initials.Deposit bags, top desk drawerAn unlabeled bag nobody can trace.
6Close out the card batch.Card terminal, Settle buttonSkipping it delays the card deposits.
7Log the totals on the daily sheet.Clipboard by the safeSkipping it on a busy night.
8Lock the deposit in the safe and lock the drawer.Office safeCash left out overnight.

Sample for illustration. Your steps, locations, and amounts will differ.

Watch

Video: How to Write Your First SOP

Video Coming Soon

What Is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)? How to Write One

Dr. Paul walks through the 6 steps and the sample SOP on screen.

From the Book

How Many Steps Is Your Business, Really?

Chapter 1 · Standard Operating Procedures

The Business in Your Head: A Bee's Buzz

"Beatrix. How many steps are in a morning harvest? From the first hive to the first capped jar on the cart."

Beatrix started to answer, stopped, and thought. You could watch her thinking.

"I don't know," she said finally, and it clearly frightened her. "I've never counted. A hundred?"

"Let us find out."

A hundred steps, or fewer? Find out what Beatrix learned, and get the Chapter 1 worksheet that turns your task into an SOP. Book 1 of Dr. Paul's Fabled Forest Business School Series.

Get the Book on Amazon →

FAQ

Standard Operating Procedure Questions

What is an example of a standard operating procedure?
A restaurant opening checklist is a standard operating procedure: unlock, lights on, ovens to a set temperature, check and log the walk-in cooler, count the drawer, all in the same order every day. Any routine task can have one, from pricing a job to running payroll to closing out the register.
What should a standard operating procedure include?
The name of the task, who does it, when it happens, and the steps in order. For each step, write what to do, where things are, and what could go wrong. Add the date it was last updated. Anything a new person had to ask about the first time belongs in it too.
How long should an SOP be?
As short as it can be while still letting a trained person do the task without calling you. Most routine tasks fit on one page. If yours runs ten pages, it is probably several SOPs stuck together, so split it up.
What is the difference between an SOP and a policy?
A policy says what the rule is, like every refund over $100 needs a manager's approval. An SOP says how to do the work, step by step, like how to process that refund at the register. Policies set the boundaries. SOPs get the work done inside them.

Keep Going

Related Foundations

SOPs connect to six other foundations. An SOP tells someone how to do the work. Delegation is how you actually hand it over. New to a term on this page? Every one is in the small business management glossary.

Foundation 2 · Delegation

The SOP is written. Now hand the task over, with the authority to finish it.

Foundation 17 · Onboarding

Turn your SOPs into a training plan so new hires learn in days, not months.

Foundation 9 · Continuous Improvement

An SOP is never finished. Measure it, then make it better.

Foundation 20 · Change Management

Rolling out written procedures to a crew that likes the old way.

Foundation 5 · Root Cause Analysis

When the same mistake keeps coming back, the fix is usually a missing step.

Foundation 3 · The Role of a Manager

Find the one protected hour a week it takes to write these down.
← Back to the GuideAll 20 Management Foundations

Written by Dr. Paul Borosky, DBA, MBA, business consultant, author, and educator with 14+ years and 1,000+ clients served. Want help getting your business out of your head and onto paper? Dr. Paul works with owners one-on-one.

This page is for general educational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, tax, accounting, or other professional advice. Dollar figures are illustrations. The Fabled Forest and its characters are fictional. For decisions about your own business, consult a qualified professional.