I have a scary question for you. If you won the lottery tomorrow—or, heaven forbid, got sick—and disappeared from your business for a month, would it survive?
Would your clients get onboarded? Would invoices get sent? Would your social media continue? Or would the entire operation screech to a halt because the “instructions” for running your company are locked exclusively inside your head?
This is called the “Bus Factor.” If your business relies 100% on you to function, you don’t own a business; you own a high-stress job.
To move from a freelancer mindset to a CEO mindset, you need to build an asset that can function without you. You need SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures).
SOPs Are Just Recipes for Success
The acronym “SOP” sounds corporate and boring, which is why so many entrepreneurs avoid it. But think of an SOP simply as a recipe.
If you want to bake a cake, you follow a recipe. It ensures that no matter who is baking, you, your partner, or a total stranger, the cake tastes the same every time. Your business needs recipes for:
- Onboarding a new client.
- Publishing a blog post.
- Sending monthly invoices.
- Handling a customer complaint.
When you have these systems documented, you stop being the bottleneck. You can hand the “recipe” to a Virtual Assistant, and they can execute it to your standard.
How to Create Your First SOP (Without Writing a Word)
The biggest lie we tell ourselves is, “It’s faster if I just do it myself.” It might be faster today, but it steals time from your future.
Here is the hack to building systems without typing out 30-page manuals: Video.
- Download a tool like Loom or BombBomb, or install a screen recorder.
- The next time you do a recurring task (like processing payroll), hit “Record.”
- Talk through what you are doing as you do it. “First I click here, then I check this number against that spreadsheet…”
- Save the video.
Congratulations! You just created an SOP.
From Chaos to Clarity
At Danielle LeBaron & Co., we take this a step further. We are system builders. We take those raw video recordings, transcribe them, format them into clear checklists, and build your digital Operations Manual.
We treat your business like it’s ours. We look for the leaks in your process, fix them, and document the solution so you never have to solve the same problem twice.
Build a Business That Runs Itself
Growth and scalability are easy when you have a foundation of trust and systems. Don’t wait until you are drowning in work to start building your life raft.
Ready to get out of the weeds? Let’s implement the Operations Executive Strategy that will free you up to focus on the work you love most. Click that contact button, and let’s get started.
Danielle LeBaron | Virtual Assistant | Operations Manager | Eagle Mountain, UT |Salt Lake City, UT | Lehi, UT | Colorado Springs, CO | Fort Collins, CO 