You can run a business on verbal handoffs when it is just you. You know what to do every morning. You know how to onboard a client. You know who to call when something breaks.
Then you hire someone. And suddenly you are spending your mornings explaining things that used to be automatic. Where is the shared folder? Who do we order supplies from? What do we do when a client is unhappy? These questions did not exist when the answers lived in your head.
This is the moment small businesses need documented processes. Not a fifty-page manual. Five templates that cover the things that break first when you grow.
1. Daily Operations Checklist. Morning open and evening close routines. Five minutes to fill. When someone is out sick, anyone can cover. Stops the what does Sarah usually do first conversations.
2. Client Onboarding SOP. Setup within 24 hours. Kickoff and first week. Steady state communication. Offboarding with lessons learned. The client gets the same experience every time regardless of who handles the account.
3. Issue Resolution & Escalation SOP. Severity levels from Critical to Low. Triage steps. A three-level escalation path with named contacts and time thresholds. Problems stop disappearing into inboxes.
4. Weekly Review & Handoff SOP. What shipped versus what was planned. Blocked items with reasons. Process health score on a 20-point scale. Handoff notes written for someone who knows nothing about your week.
5. Vendor Management SOP. Directory, order process, quality checks, review schedule. Stop tracking suppliers in a spreadsheet nobody can find.
This starter pack is a curated subset of the full SOP Template Pack, priced for very small teams. If you need the full pack with all six templates plus bonuses, it is also available. If you just need the essentials to get through the next hire, start here.
Get the Small Biz Ops Starter → $22. Five templates, one download.
