How do I write an SOP for my shop?
Short answer
Record yourself doing the task. Type it up as a checklist. Hand it to a new person and let them improve it.
Why this works
Owners overthink SOPs. You don't need a 30-page manual. You need a one-page checklist for each task that someone unfamiliar can follow. The video is the backup.
Keep it alive
Every time someone follows the SOP and finds it wrong, they update it. The SOP belongs to whoever runs it now, not to the owner who wrote it three years ago.
Ask your version of this question
This is one business owner-tested take. Your shop size, trade, and team change the answer. Ask the exact version inside Ask a Shop Owner and get a response grounded in how owners like you actually handled it.
Now run it against your numbers.
This answer is written for shops in general. Inside Ask a Shop Owner it becomes your answer: your revenue, your crew, your market, your history. Ask "How do I write an SOP for my shop" and get the version that accounts for what you already told us.
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