Why You Need Standard Operating Procedures For Your Small Business
Heidi Setchfield
The Virtual Operations Manager: Helping CEOs & Founders reclaim 20+ hrs/week ? | Virtual Operations Manager | Boost Productivity + Streamline Operations = Maximise Revenue with Less Stress ??Dream Team
Every business needs standard operating procedures, also known as SOPs. However, whether every business has them is a different question. Standard operating procedures are essential for your business, but do you know why?
What Is A Standard Operating Procedure?
A Standard Operating Procedure is an outline of the steps you take to run your business. This includes what you need to do to complete those recurring tasks in your business. It’s like a long checklist of all the tasks you need to do for the smooth running of your business.
The Benefits Of A Standard Operating Procedure For Your Small Business
- Fast New Talent Training
SOPs are a great tool for training new employees quickly. You can use them to train your new recruit as they explain the business and the new employees’ tasks. An SOP explains how often a task or tasks need to be completed and what is involved in completing them.
- Business Preparation for Outsourcing
If the business picks up, employees are off sick or you need help for a short amount of time, you may choose to outsource or delegate. The SOPs for your business will include everything you need to give the person you are delegating or outsourcing the tasks to. This will then free up your time to work on the higher-level tasks you need to build and grow your business.
- Job Description Writing
It can often be tricky to write job descriptions for different roles in your business. Sometimes employees do things you don’t even know about until they leave. However, this isn’t the case with a good SOP. The SOPO will form the daily tasks and responsibilities completed in that job role. This can then be the baseline you need for drafting job descriptions as they are needed.
- Product Quality Guaranteed
How can you make sure that you deliver the same high-quality product consistently? You could have quality checks at different stages of the production. Another option to ensure that everyone understands the specifications of the final product. This can then be logged and managed in the SOPs for your team to see.
- Customer Service Benchmarking
While your customers will never see your SOPs, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t part of the customer service journey. Have service SOPs ensure that your employees understand the expected level of customer service at various points and interactions. It also includes how customers are spoken to and how complaints are dealt with.
- Business Continuity
Your SOPs can work as a back-up for staff sickness. You can quickly see the responsibilities of the employee that is away. You can then match these tasks to someone with similar responsibilities as a short-term cover solution. This means that tasks can be quickly handed over and managed effectively by the right employees.
What's Next?
As you can see, there are many benefits of standard operating procedures for your small business. However, this also means that there is a lot involved in creating SOPs for your business. If you need help creating an SOP for your business, get in touch today.
I am a big believer in the incredible benefits of SOPs for small businesses and will happily help you create them for your business. To find out how I can help you send me an email.