When I finally decided what to focus on in my writing business, I chose standard operating procedures (SOPs) and manuals in particular as my focus. For those of you out there who are business owners, this might come as a surprise. Why? This area isn’t as glamorous as sales copy or social media marketing.
My “why” in this area has to do with something I’ve come across in my career as an administrative professional: what happens when the admin is no longer there? Or if you don’t have the payroll for an admin.
The office version of Armageddon isn’t running out of snacks in the break room.
The office version of Armageddon is when the administrative professional leaves the company, goes on vacation, gets fired, or is otherwise not available to run everything. If everything in the company goes through that one person, disaster looms large. Especially if you’re a small business.
So, we come to the real question. How do you prevent Armageddon from happening at your business?
Well, large corporations have handled it by splitting up the administrative duties by the department. Human Resources, for instance, will only deal with Human Resources paperwork.
This is fine and dandy for large businesses because they have the people and resources to throw away in splitting everything up. But for your average small business, splitting up the admin by department isn’t workable. You may be so small you have exactly ONE department: the YOU department.
The YOU department already does everything else around the business. And the YOU department is already overworked. Trust me. I am a small business owner. I don’t have a league of customer service agents, contract administrators, buyers, planners, etc. It’s just me.
It’s exhausting, exciting, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
What does what and for whom?
If you’re new to the concept of having manuals and procedures for your business, let me give you a rundown of what does what.
Manuals
Manuals are what I’m going to call the “mother ship” of your business operations.
What they do.
What they do is communicate policies.
These are usually things like legally-mandated workplace policies, dress codes, hygiene, benefits, paid time off, and social media use. However, you can also have manuals for how to deal with customers, the company’s brand promise as it pertains to employees, what you want your business to stand for and how you want programs to operate.
The goal for a manual is informative. You are setting a standard for how the business is going to operate overall, from how you use social media to what you expect of your employees.
Who they’re for
Usually when you say “manual” in a business context, you are referring to something like an Employee Handbook.
This isn’t always the case. Your intended audience is going to be other employees the most often, but think of yourself as a prospective audience too.
Why? You will not remember everything you need to know about your business. Having a manual keeps you straight too!
Processes
Processes give you the nuts and bolts of what to do for a very specific task.
What they do.
Processes communicate action.
Let’s take something like an order process. What are the steps you (or an employee) will have to take to complete a customer’s order from beginning to end?
The goal for a process is to document how specific tasks should be done if they are going to be successful.
If your business is in a heavily regulated area such as healthcare or finance, your processes may also need to comply with specific government or industry standards.
Who they’re for
Everyone! I’m a solopreneur, and what do you think my major writing project for my business is, aside from blog posts?
Processes! Processes keep you more organized and confident because if you can’t remember something in the moment, you can refer to your process. This keeps customer handling, growth, marketing consistent so you do the same thing (or close to it) every single time.
Which you need depends on where you are in your business and where you are struggling the most.
Where do you start? Well, start with your pain points. You may need one or both, depending on where you are in your business plans and goals.
When’s a manual useful? A manual is useful when you are setting up a new product line, program, or are about to hire new people. Remember, manuals communicate policies. Service-based businesses or non-profits especially need manuals to communicate how things work or how to run programs. You may also need manuals for specific job requirements such as safety, office management, procurement.
Are you forgetting one specific task every week or month? Do you have to re-learn it every single time you do it? That means you need a process. You also need processes if you hire a lot of freelance contractors (like me) or subcontract specific areas of your business like administrative work out.
Processes also help if you run a maker’s business where you produce a physical product to sell. If you want to hire extra people, or create a new product, you need a process to recreate that product the same way every time.
Unsure of what you need for your business? Schedule a call with me today for some input and find out how writers like me can save you time and money!
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