The One “Corporate” Habit You Should Bring With You As A Solopreneur

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When solopreneurs flee the corporate world, “standard operating procedures” are often the first thing left behind—right next to awkward team-building exercises and passive-aggressive reply-all emails. But hold up—this is one “corporate” thing you do want to keep.

In this episode of The Aspiring Solopreneur, Carly and Joe dive into the unexpected power of SOPs. From preparing for life’s curveballs to simply freeing up brain space for more important things (like remembering where you hid your coffee), they’ll share how documenting your processes can make your solo business run smoother, and maybe even grow faster. Whether you're team "ditch the docs" or already a checklist champ, this episode will make you rethink what it means to be efficient on your own. 

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Episode Transcript

Carly Ries: Think SOPs are just a corporate buzzkill? Well, think again. In this episode, we bust the myth that standard operating procedures have no place in solo businesses. We share how documenting your processes isn't just about coverage, it's about clarity, efficiency, and maybe even finally taking that guilt free vacation. So tune in to learn how these kinds of things might just be your secret weapon for long term solopreneur sanity and success.

Carly Ries: You're listening to the Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for those just taking the bold step or even just thinking about taking that step into the world of solo entrepreneurship. My name is Carly Ries, and my cohost Joe Rando and I are your guides to navigating this crazy but awesome journey as a company of one. We take pride in being part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all aspects of solopreneurship that has empowered and educated countless solopreneurs looking to build a business that resonates with their life's ambitions. We help people work to live, not live to work. And if you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the show for you.

So if you're eager to gain valuable insights industry experts on running a business the right way the first time around or want to learn from the missteps of solopreneurs who paved the way before you, then stick around. We've got your back because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone.

Carly Ries: Alright. So Joe, I was having a conversation, the other day with with one of the solopreneurs in our community. And we were talking about standard operating procedures. And I think a lot of times when people go out on their own, they're like, I'm leaving all these corporate things in corporate. I'm not bringing them into my business.

I did not become a solopreneur so I could put these processes in place and put all these documents together and whatnot. And I was like, woah, woah, woah, pump the brakes. I get that. For a lot of things, do get that a lot of it is just kind of you do it because you have to do it. But for standard operating procedures, they are so essential for a solopreneur because since you're a one man show, if you need to leave your business for whatever reason, if you wanna take a vacation for six months or whatever, that's an exaggeration, that'd be awesome.

Or anything, you need to have these. You need to be prepared for, unexpected leave from your business or a planned leave. I mean, example, a few years ago, I was so selfish and decided to have another baby. And I wanted to take that time for myself to enjoy my newborn. And, when I say selfish, you were very supportive. That was nothing at all related to LifeStarr.

That was just a joke. But I needed to get things in place so that you knew what to do, so that the other contractors on our team knew what to do in my absence. And you need to be thinking through those things as a slopreneur. And when you put these procedures together, you need to be as detailed as possible, like painfully detailed. Like, what time do you publish a blog post?

What time do you release a podcast episode? Who does this? Who does what? Every little detail. And I have found it to be really helpful to have a document, but also have a video that goes along with the document, and to record everything that you do to post to the document or to link in there so people will have a visual of what you're talking about.

Because some people, they like the text, some people like the video, and just to cover all bases. But just to have it if you never need it, fine. But it's good to have it. Sorry. I feel like I just started rambling and didn't even let you talk yet.

Joe what are your thoughts?

Joe Rando: Well, I agree with everything you're saying. I think that part of this, though, isn't just about going on a vacation or taking a leave of absence. It's also just to reduce your brain load. So let's say you have something that you do once a month, and it's, you know, reasonably involved. I don't know what it is.

It could be something that you have to do once a month. And you try to go in and do that every month, but you don't have a procedure written down. Then you're putting this cognitive load to say, okay, can remember how I do this. And maybe you don't do it the same way every month, and now you've got inconsistent results or whatever. And if you have it written down, you don't have to think.

You just go click, you know,

people can do his with Google Docs or Google Sheet or something. And that's how I mean, Yazra and Google Sheets. Right? And we just go in and say, okay, this is how I do this. Step, step, step, step, step.

And then we've got other people that help us, you know, contractors, George B Thomas's team that help us with things. And they have access to those sheets and know what they're supposed to be doing. And it really, really makes it so much easier than having to think through this process that we do say once a month, you know. Say, our events, right? That's one where we got to do this, this, this, and we get that written down.

I have a feeling at this point people have those memorized. But if we made a change, then we would, be able to put that change in the document. People wouldn't have to try to remember it. They'd go and look at it, and it just makes you more efficient and spares your brain some of that cognitive load of trying to remember how I did this last month.

Carly Ries: Well, it's funny because I still do run of shows for all of our events. I don't even know if you guys look at them because it's like, well, we do it so much. I do look at them though. And just the practice of okay, this is what's coming.

It's just a helpful thing to have in place if you need it. I think the other thing that would be helpful is if you've put together these procedures, and then shared them with another contractor, another solopreneur, and see if people can identify any inefficiencies. Because if you have everything written down, everything documented, it could be easy for people to be like, well, you don't need to do that step. Why do you use this tool to do this step? And it could really streamline your own processes by just putting it out there.

Joe Rando: I just created a GPT that I put into our community, to do just that.

It questions you about what you're doing, analyzes it, suggests where you might wanna create standard operating procedures that you don't have, and then suggest ways of changing them to be more efficient.

Carly Ries: So are we morphing into the same person that I just teed you up for that without even knowing I was teeing you up for it?

Joe Rando: No It was just something that came up through the community, and I was like, I wonder if this can work. And I haven't tested it out yet, so it might be a failure. But I'm letting him test it out because he asked for it.

Carly Ries: There you go. There you go. But moral of the story, do not let this be one of the corporate things that you leave behind. Bring this process with you. It is so important.

And again, just review it. Maybe every six months, revisit what you wrote down. Even if you haven't looked at it in those six months, be like, is this still current? Do I still follow this practice? Things change.

So just make sure you keep it current. But Joe, any other advice from you?

Joe Rando: No. But I think we should do an episode on what kinds of corporate things people should leave behind. I think office gossip goes first, but that'd be fun.

Carly Ries: I agree. That would actually be a really good episode, adding it to my notes right now for maybe a month from now. Alright. But listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. As always, leave that five star review, share this episode with a friend, and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform, including YouTube.

And we will see you next time on The Aspiring Solopreneur.

Carly Ries: You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go. So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.