SOPs for Creatives: Why Standard Operating Procedures Aren’t Just for Big Businesses
When most creatives hear “SOP,” their eyes glaze over. Standard Operating Procedures sound like something made for corporate cubicles — not for a photographer, coach, or creative entrepreneur running a thriving, passion-fueled business.
But here’s the truth: SOPs are one of the simplest and most powerful ways to make your business run more smoothly, protect your time, and grow without burning out. And yes, they’re just as essential for a team of one as they are for a team of ten.
So what exactly is an SOP?
At its core, an SOP is just a document that outlines how you do something in your business. It breaks down the repeatable steps, tools used, and decisions made so that anyone (including future you) could pick up the process and run with it.
In our work with clients—creative entrepreneurs, coaches, consultants—we write an SOP for nearly every process we touch. Why? Because it creates clarity, consistency, and breathing room. Whether we’re handling a task for the 100th time or handing it off to a teammate, no one is starting from scratch.
A few SOPs we’ve helped clients create recently:
Managing calendars without burnout: We mapped out a scheduling process to keep one client’s week from being overrun by meetings. It included when to use a scheduling tool like Calendly vs. when to send a more personal invite.
Onboarding new team members: For a coaching business expanding its team, we created a step-by-step SOP that made onboarding efficient and consistent every time.
Running group coaching sessions: We developed a detailed event production SOP for monthly Zoom coaching sessions, covering everything from pre-call setup to in-session troubleshooting to what to screenshot for testimonials afterward.
These processes don’t have to be complicated. Most SOPs are just a living Google Doc or detailed in Asana. The key is: once you write it down, it frees you up to stop thinking about it. Or better yet, hand it off with confidence.
Have you heard the quote from David Allen, “Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.”?
Not sure where to start? Start with your tools.
If there’s one SOP every business should have, it’s a tech stack overview. Just a simple doc listing the tools you use, what they’re for, and how to log into them. This one piece of documentation alone can save so much time and confusion—and it’s often the first step to realizing where things can be improved or streamlined.
From there, any task you do more than once is fair game. Think: publishing your blog, prepping a newsletter, setting up a recurring Zoom call, or uploading a gallery. If it’s part of your rhythm, it deserves to be documented.
SOPs are the quiet systems that help creative businesses thrive.
They don’t make your work less creative. They make space for you to stay in your zone of genius, while someone else can confidently handle the rest. That’s how you grow a business that’s sustainable—not just successful.
