Tell me if you’ve ever had this happen before…
One day it hits you – you get an amazing idea for app and immediately grab your phone, a napkin, or whatever you’ve got nearby to scratch out the outline so you don’t forget it.
You jump into the app store to do your market research, and a few days letter the data is saying this is a good move, so you post a job listing on UpWork to find a developer.
You do your due diligence and find a developer with a great portfolio who seems to have the skills you need to get the job done. They’re a great price too!
You hand everything off to them and sit back, anxiously awaiting your finished project. You’re thinking development will take 2, maybe 3 weeks tops and then you’ll be able to get into the app store and start bringing in some cash.
3 months later, the app is still not done…
You’re frustrated, tired, even a little bored of working on the same thing, and you can’t fathom why it’s so difficult for your developer to take what’s in your head and make it real.
Sound familiar?
Here’s the thing – by default, human beings can be kinda terrible at communicating. Especially when it comes to working on something creative with other people. And when it comes to an app business, or really any business, there comes a time where you need other people to help achieve your goals and your vision. At that point, your ability to communicate with clarity in detail can make or break your entire business.
So what’s the solution?
Two things:
1. You need to train yourself to over-communicate so that it’s practically impossible for anyone with decent reading comprehension to understand what you want them to do.
2. You need to automate as much of the process as possible so that you don’t drive yourself crazy repeating yourself constantly and so that your business can run sustainably and predictably even while you’re away.
So that’s what we’re covering in today’s quick video about creating Standard Operating Procedures (or SOPs). In case you’re unfamiliar with them, an SOP is a procedure that’s been standardized so it can be completed by anyone without having to ask many questions.
Now before I lose you with how incredibly boring that sounds, think about how amazing it would be to know that every time you delegate something out to your team, it’s almost guaranteed they’ll do exactly what you’re asking for the first time with minimal bugs or issues.
Have I got your attention? I hope so. 😉
Today I’ll be sharing a sample of my SOP for my team of how to make app screenshots, walking you through the important sections I like to include in an SOP, and covering the questions I ask myself when I’m wondering whether the task I’m doing or explaining should have its own SOP.
Let me know below if you use SOPs in your business, or how you’re planning to try them out this week!