I’m a process fiend. But most of the time, the “how this works” knowledge exists only in my head. As a solo business owner, this was mostly fine… until I needed to collaborate with other people.
Most solopreneurs treat process documentation as a someday task. There’s always something more pressing—like a client deadline, invoices to send, or a proposal to send. Plus, writing documentation isn’t exactly the most exciting task. Certainly not a revenue-generating one.
But odds are, at some point, you’ll be looking for outside support. Whether it’s a bookkeeper, a social media manager, a virtual assistant, or some other type of contractor, you’ll need to explain how things work in your business. And if nothing is written down, you’ll be starting from scratch at the worst possible time. Here’s how to avoid that trap.
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Start with the next process you work on
Don’t try to document everything at once. You may sit down with the intention of writing out every workflow in your business, but the scope of the project will overwhelm you before you even start.
A better approach is to pick your most-repeated tasks and document them the next time you do them. If you send client invoices every two weeks, document the steps the next time you send one. If you schedule social media posts every Monday, write down your process next Monday.
You could also set aside a small, recurring time block each week—like 15 or 20 minutes—to capture the week’s process at one time. This is how I tackled my documentation project at first. Over a few months, you’ll have a growing library of documentation without it ever feeling like a massive project.
The real test is the handoff
When you’re the only person in your business, you can wing it pretty easily. You know where to find things, and you remember the quirks of how you use your tools. You can skip steps because you just know how things work.
That changes the moment you bring in outside help. Undocumented knowledge will quickly become a bottleneck because the person has to come to you needing an explanation.
Your documentation has to be understandable to someone who has never touched your systems before. That means including:
- Links to the tools or documents you use
- Screenshots of how things get done
- A clear step-by-step process.
Short videos can work well here, too (and sometimes it’s easier to show someone how to do something than to write it all out).
I’ve also found that I need documentation for processes I don’t have to touch very often. Even if it’s just me, if it’s something I only do once a month or once a quarter, I might forget how it’s set up. But if I document my process, I can pull it up and follow the steps.
AI removed the biggest excuse
The most common reason solopreneurs skip documentation is the work involved. If you stop what you’re doing to write everything down, it feels like it doubles the work.
But AI can handle the tedious task of writing documentation. Screen-recording tools like Loom and Scribe can turn a recorded walkthrough into written, step-by-step documentation automatically. You do the task as you normally would, record yourself doing it, and the tool generates the written version for you.
I’ve also used Claude to write standard operating procedures for me. Claude connects to different tools I use, and then I have Claude write a recap of how I use the connector. I save the recap to my Google Drive, so it’s available the next time I need to repeat the process.
You still know your processes better than anyone. AI just handles the part that used to make documentation feel like a chore—sitting down and writing it all out.
When you need it, you’ll be glad you have it
Last year, I had to step away from my business for several months due to medical issues. When that happened, I relied heavily on documentation for people who were helping me while I was away. A lot of my day-to-day processes were already documented, which made the handoff much easier.
Your list of processes will only grow as your business does. Each new tool, client, or workflow one adds another process that lives in your head until you take the time to get it out. The earlier you start, the less you’ll have to do later.
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