Real operators, real playbooks — free SOPs you can run this week. Every episode of the Unscripted Small Business podcast hides at least one repeatable play a small team could run starting today. This series pulls the strongest one out of each conversation and writes it up as a clean, do-this-today standard operating procedure — with a free, printable PDF and no email gate.
Guest Readiness SOP: Get Booked on Podcasts Without Needing Oprah →
Victoria Bennion of The Best Podcast Guest Booking Agency turns away clients a host cannot look up and understand. Her seven-step check before the first pitch: the hold-off gate, a story bank, a one-sheet that reads like a CV, three pieces of kit, a practice interview, a hand-written pitch, and the host as the first win. Printable one-page checklist.
Insider Hire SOP: Staff Your Service From Inside the Building You Already Serve →
Melyssa Jaskiewicz of Leveling the Fields does not bring outside volunteers onto a school campus. She hires the school’s own teachers as paid coaches — money into a teacher’s pocket, authority already established, classroom management for free. 6 steps + a printable two-page worksheet.
AI Paste Audit SOP: Know What You Are Giving Away Before You Hit Enter →
Richard Gearhart of Gearhart Law on why a public AI tool is two problems at once: it describes your unreleased idea out loud, and it leaves a record someone else may later be entitled to read. Six steps to audit what your team pastes.
Founder’s Prenup SOP: Have the Hard Conversation Before You Sign →
Phil Crowley of Crowley Law had a client download an operating agreement off the internet. It was not one, and he nearly lost $50,000. Six things to settle with a co-founder before any paperwork exists.
The 1% Rollout SOP: Stop Swinging for the Fences With AI →
From Brett Schklar (AI First Leadership): skip the flagship AI project. Give every person one hour a week to make one part of their own job 1% better, keep a human on anything that ships, and share what worked. Over 52 weeks that compounds to 68% more done. 6 steps + a printable two-page checklist.
The SOPs so far
Influencer Pre-Flight SOP: Fix Your Site Before the Creator Posts →
From Sherri Langburt (BabbleBoxx): the six things to verify before a creator posts — criteria, inventory, geos, landing pages, promo consistency, and the search result. Because “if it’s happening to the influencer, it’s happening to the consumer.” 6 steps + a printable two-page checklist.
The Clarity One-Pager SOP: Map It Before You Build It →
Business psychologist Dr. Julika Novkova’s pre-building step — define the role of every asset, map the client journey, and write down what you are NOT, all on one page, before you build or automate anything.
AI Guardrails SOP: Write Down What Your AI May Never Say →
From James Ernst (Core Order): capture your red lines in discovery, write them into an instruction file the system reads every run, and add a second agent that checks the output against them. 6 steps + a printable one-pager.
Speed-to-Lead SOP: Stop Lighting Your Marketing Budget on Fire →
From Cameron Tope (Emerson Property Management): assign someone to answer and close inbound leads fast — before you spend another dollar on marketing. 6 steps + a printable checklist PDF.
Browse every SOP as it’s published on the Small Business SOPs category archive →
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