How to write an SOP (with a template you can copy)

By Muhammad Anas NS, Trainova BS, Trivandrum. Updated 3 November 2026.

What is an SOP?

SOP stands for standard operating procedure. It tells someone how a recurring job gets done in your business, so the result doesn’t depend on who’s doing it or whether you’re around. In Malayalam, ഒരു ജോലി എങ്ങനെ ചെയ്യണം എന്ന് എഴുതി വെച്ച രേഖ: a written record of how a job should be done.

If you landed here looking for a statement of purpose for a university or visa application, that’s a different SOP, and this guide won’t help you.

How to write an SOP in 8 steps

1. Pick a job that hurts. Choose one that causes repeat questions, costly mistakes or customer complaints. Not the easiest one.
2. Watch it being done. Sit with the person doing it. What really happens is rarely what you think happens.
3. Name one owner. A role, not a person, so it survives someone leaving.
4. Write the steps as commands. Start with a verb. “Log the complaint.” Not “Complaints should be logged in a timely manner.”
5. Add the numbers. Time limits, rupee limits, how many attempts. “Soon” and “appropriate” mean nothing.
6. Say what they can decide alone. This is what stops the phone calls. Most SOPs leave it out.
7. Test it on someone new. Give it to someone who has never done the job. Where they get stuck, rewrite.
8. Set a review date. An out-of-date SOP is worse than none, because people stop trusting all the others.

A simple standard operating procedure template

Copy this into a document. If it runs longer than a page or two, you’re probably writing two SOPs.

Why most SOPs fail

• One person wrote it alone. The staff who do the job don’t recognise it, so they ignore it.
• It’s too long. Nobody reads eleven pages while a customer waits.
• It’s in the wrong language. If your team reads Malayalam, write in Malayalam.
• Nobody checks it. An SOP that’s never audited is a suggestion.
• It covers every exception. Cover the common cases and say who decides the rest.

How many SOPs do you need?

Start with three. Then keep going by asking what caused the most calls to you this month. A small business can run well on ten to twenty SOPs people actually use. See our SOP examples for business for finished ones.

If you’d rather not do this alone, that’s what SOP consulting is for.