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Standard operating procedures for small business, with a simple template.
A standard operating procedure, or SOP, is a repeatable set of instructions for a defined task. Start with one task that regularly stops when the owner is unavailable.
By Jonathan Lambrianidis · Updated 26 September 2026
Answer a few questions and try the response on your own phone.
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Choose a task with a clear beginning and end.
“Run the office” is too broad. “Prepare a new client's first appointment” is testable. Describe the event that starts it and what must be true when it is finished. Then watch somebody do the work before writing the instructions.
A short template you can copy.
Procedure title
- Starts when: the event or request that triggers the work.
- Responsible person: the role that owns completion and its backup.
- Before starting: the information, tools and permissions needed.
- Steps: one action at a time, in the order the work happens.
- When it does not fit: the exceptions and who decides.
- Finished when: the record, confirmation or handover that proves completion.
- Reviewed: date, procedure owner and next review trigger.
Test it with someone who did not write it.
Ask a team member to use the procedure while you observe. Note where they pause, guess or ask for information that is missing. Those are edits to the procedure, not evidence that they should have remembered more.
Use screenshots or a short demonstration where they help, but keep the written steps searchable. Give the current version one home so the team does not work from an old copy saved on a phone.
Preparing a first appointment.
Start when the appointment is approved. Check the contact details, send the agreed preparation information, assign any outstanding form follow-up and confirm who receives the client. If information is missing, make the task visible to the responsible person. Finish when the team can see the appointment and what is still outstanding.
Adapt these steps to your business before using them. Our process documentation service includes observing, writing, testing and agreeing how procedures stay current.
Review when the work changes.
A changed booking tool, a repeated question or an avoidable mistake is a reason to reopen the procedure. Record the meaningful change and review date. A calendar reminder helps, but it should not be the only way a problem reaches the procedure owner.
See the system in action.
Try the enquiry follow-up system on your own phone. Add your details, answer a few questions and see the response arrive.