Most owners know they should write SOPs. Few do it, because it sounds like a month of paperwork. Tyler Woodall, founder of Agency Aid and C4 Solutions, built 150 of them for his first business and then handed the work to someone else. On Driven To Win episode 428, he walked Chaz Wolfe through how he did it. Here is what owners in construction, the trades and home services can take from it.
What is an SOP and why does a small business need one?
An SOP, or standard operating procedure, is a written set of steps for a job your business does over and over. It lets someone else do the job the same way you would, without asking you every time.
Tyler learned this the hard way. He built an insurance agency by dialing 150 businesses a day and walking into 30 more. Like a lot of owners, he left a job thinking he could do the work better on his own. What he got was a business where he wore every hat. In his words, many owners "really actually make just a crappy job for ourselves." More stress, all the hats, and often less money.
SOPs are how you get out of that job and back to owning a business.
How do you write SOPs for your small business?
Start by writing down what your business delivers, from first call to finished job. Then write out each task step by step, and record yourself doing it.
That is the exact order Tyler used. He mapped the customer journey first. Then he typed out each task. Then he recorded a short video of himself doing it. Most of his agency work was on a screen, so he narrated as he clicked through it. "So I built 150 of these standard operating procedures," he said. Then he hired one person, sent all 150 documents, and told them which one to use as each task came in.
For a contractor, the customer journey might be the lead call, the site visit, the estimate, the contract, scheduling, the build, the walkthrough and the invoice. Each of those steps holds a handful of tasks that someone besides you could do.
Do I need to write every SOP before I hire?
No. Start with the tasks that cause you the most pain, and get a little better each week.
Tyler is clear that 150 SOPs is where he ended up, not where you start. His advice: "start with what are my biggest headaches now? Where do I spend my time?" He also says "done is better than perfect." And he puts the goal in plain terms: "You don't have to have the whole business automated today, but let's get like 10% better."
If you are not sure where your hours go, track one normal week before you write anything. The tasks that eat your time and drain your energy are your first SOPs.
Do SOPs work for crews in the field?
Yes. On a job site, a checklist does the same work as a screen recording. Pair it with a short phone video of the task done right, and you cover people who learn by reading and people who learn by watching.
Tyler's case for video is that it takes the variation out of training. "When you record it, you remove the human element," he said. You don't have to rely on whoever is training that day. "You don't know what that trainer's day is like." The checklist then gives your crew a simple path to follow, step by step, every time.
How do you get your team to actually follow the SOP?
Have them sign it. A signature at the bottom of the checklist turns a box-ticking habit into ownership.
Tyler borrows from Jocko Willink's idea of extreme ownership. Each person on his team owns their SOPs. He believes "having people sign their name next to it, showing that I'm proud of what I've done, just makes them work that much harder."
Chaz saw the same thing in his Edible Arrangements stores. The closing checklist would come back fully checked, but parts of the store were still dirty. People checked the boxes from memory on the way out the door. Once he added a signature line, they read it line by line. As Chaz put it, you are "keeping honest people, honest."
What if the SOP is followed and the job still goes wrong?
Then fix the SOP, not the person. If someone did every step you wrote and the result is still wrong, the process is the problem.
This is the part most owners miss. Tyler says that when the checklist is complete and signed and the result is bad, the employee "did what I told them to do." His answer is to fix the framework and not discipline the employee. "It's a me problem this time." That habit builds trust with your crew and makes every SOP better over time.
Won't SOPs make the work boring for my team?
For most of your team, clear steps are a relief, not a burden. Owners like figuring things out on the fly. Most employees do not.
Chaz pushed on this point. Entrepreneurs tend to hate 1, 2, 3, 4 systems. But the people who join your team usually want structure. Tyler agrees. When the expectations are clear, people are less stressed. You can tell them, "This is exactly what I need done every single time," and give them "the instructions on how to do it so you don't have to ask me every time." That clarity is what frees the owner to work on the business.
Tyler admits it "may get monotonous, but it's extremely efficient." For a team that delivers the same promise to every client, efficient is the point.
How do you manage people by results instead of hours?
Define the deliverable for each step of the job, and judge people on whether it got done. Once you know what done looks like, you do not need to watch the clock.
Tyler uses time trackers only when a new hire is still earning trust. With his core team, he cares about the finished work. If someone finishes early and goes home to their family, that is fine with him. For owners who worry about idle time, he has a simple fix: "just plan for it and have an SOP for when you finish your task."
He also cares about the person behind the task. His HR manager helps any team member who wants it work on personal life goals. His reason is practical. If people do not feel fulfilled, "they're gonna be looking for the door." For a crew member, he says, help him get control of his life "and he's going to be incredibly loyal to you."
Where should an owner start this week?
Pick your three biggest headaches. Write the steps for one of them. Record yourself doing it on your phone. Hand it to someone and ask them to sign off when it is done.
If you want an outside reference for structure, the EPA publishes a free guide to preparing standard operating procedures. You do not need that level of detail for most small business tasks, but it is a useful checklist for what a good SOP covers.
Listen to the full conversation on Driven To Win episode 428 with Tyler Woodall. For workbooks that help owners find where their time goes and get out of the day-to-day, visit the Gathering The Kings books and tools page.
This article was written by the Gathering The Kings team from Driven To Win episode 428 with Tyler Woodall.
