Want to position a small business to grow or be bought out? Here is an easy step you can take to improve your chances of success

Dave Meadows and Mike Sovie are the co-founders of ColdCallRX, a Tampa Bay, Florida-based outsourced cold calling and lead generation service provider they launched in 2020.

One of the ways they have positioned their business to grow is by creating standard operating procedures, or SOPs. Entrepreneurs use these documents to describe how they do things in the business, whether it's answering a customer service call or entering information into a database, to help train new hires. .

Some later find that when they sell the business, having SOPs in place makes it more attractive to potential buyers, who know they can own it without thinking how to make things right. are going well. “A business that can run without an owner on a day-to-day basis is worth far more than a business that needs an owner,” says Sovie, who has a background in the pharmaceutical industry, where many processes are standardized in this way.

In the case of ColdCallRX, the SOPs consist of simple video clips of each task, along with written instructions. "If someone has a question, you can send them a quick video," says Sovie.

ColdCall RX has organized the SOPs into a playbook, which contains a table of contents for all of its SOPs, covering topics such as customer onboarding, software systems and training, and support and training to the management of virtual assistants.

The company also shares a "best practices" SOP with its customers to help them get the most out of the relationship, offering guidance on scenarios such as what to do if they receive a call from a key contact at a company ColdCallRX was pitching on their behalf. "We're an extension of their sales team," says Meadows.

So how do you create SOPs for your own business? I turned to Carrie Wulf, an operations expert and self-proclaimed "SOP geek" at Wulden Professional Solutions in Wallingford, Ct., for advice.

"Last year there was an increase in people realizing that they have to put these procedures in place," she says. “They want to start taking vacations. People realize that I can give my assistant this library of SOPs and they will know exactly what they need to do and how it should be done."

Here are three tips to start applying today.

1. Think about all types of learners. Some people learn best from video. Others do better when learning from an audio recording or a written document. Your SOPs will be more successful if you create them in multiple formats. "Every time I write a POS, I include a link to a step-by-step video," she says.

2. Consider each step. Someone should be able to follow the SOP even if they have never worked for your company before. "My goal when writing SOPs is to be able to hand that document to someone who has never done that task before, so they can do it by following the SOP as written," says Wulf. .

3. Make your life easier. Wulf uses a video messaging tool called Loom to speak and record the steps of each process. If you choose to use it, it suggests recording you with a Zoom screen share.

At the end of the day, SOPs are a simple tool. However, they can make a real difference if you want to grow your business and enjoy the fruits of your labor.