Small Business Operations Manual | Customizable on Notion

Designed for business owners who want to keep a clean, organized, and easy-to-navigate single source of knowledge for their business.

• Keep all of your processes, policies, guides, checklists, and documentation in one place.
• Quickly onboard, train, and set your team up for success.
• Let your team find the information they need faster. 
• Kickstart your documentation with 60+ sections already pre-built with best practices.  
• Create new procedures and policies in seconds with Notion AI Assist.

It’s easy, fast, and looks eye-pleasing by default.

• Pre-built. All sections are already pre-populated with suggested best practices and operational guidelines for a small business would/should have. 
• Customizable. You can customize any part of the Manual as you wish. 
• Suitable for any type of business. 
• Comes on Notion - a free digital platform that allows you to customize, store, and share your Manual with your employees digitally. 

Your Operations Manual is your business’ systems. But why build systems in your business? 

• Systems create consistency. When employees don't have systems to work with, they may do things differently from time to time which gets us inconsistent results and an inconsistent experience for our customers. 
• Systems make it easier to delegate to other people. Often, we delegate something, we tell someone what to do, but they forget how to do it or they may not do it in the right way. Written systems make it clear on what is the way in which we want things to be done.

What's Inside?

Section 1: Introduction & Purpose

This section briefly introduces the purpose of the manual, what information is included, how it is used, and what you and your employees can expect from using it.

Section 2: Business History

Knowing the history of the business can provide your employees with a sense of ownership and pride which is likely to result in their commitment to the business’ success. You insert your business' history here, if you'd like to.

Section 3: Culture & Values

At the heart of most successful businesses is a clear set of values and a strong company culture. Values give people guiding principles to make their own choices when things are not explicitly described in the systems. You'll see recommended values in this section and can adopt or customize them to suit your business’ culture.

Section 4: Organization Chart

Successful businesses are organized around positions, not around personalities and dependency on each employee’s personal strengths and knowledge. You'll have a template and example organization chart in this section and can customize it to reflect the hierarchical structure of your business.

Section 5: Job Descriptions

Having clear job descriptions is essential for everyone to understand the roles and responsibilities that come with their title. You'll have a template and examples in this section and can adopt or customize them to suit your business.

Section 6: Website, Social Media & Software

Your website, social media accounts, and software tools are included in this section. For businesses utilizing social media, it’s important to create a system and strategy to use it in an organized and efficient manner. You'll have a template system and examples in this section.

Section 7: Business Systems & Processes

This section includes standard operating procedures, business processes, best practices, policies, and work instructions that any small business would need.

Having these properly documented in your business will provide you easy access to essential information and instructions, allow you to train your new employees without hiccups, deliver consistent results to your customers to ensure they come back, and take time off whenever you want without worrying about how your staff or business is doing.

Section 8: Owner-Only Section

In this section, you'll find the systems and processes that shouldn’t necessarily be accessible to your employees. These are the information that only you should know, and data you will track, as an Owner/General Manager of your company.

Section 9: Checklists, Forms & How-to Guides

This section is where your employees can locate the business’ spec sheets, checklists, forms, how-to guides, and other job aids. You'll see tons of examples in this section that you can adopt or customize to your business needs.

Section 10: Emergency Procedures

You don't need emergency procedures every day, but you know when you need them you better have them ready and easily accessible! You'll have a comprehensive list of standard emergency procedures in this section.

Section 11: Contact Details

Having a comprehensive list of important contacts is essential for your business to run smoothly, especially if the management is unavailable. This helps your employees handle any situation that may come up and ensures that the business keeps running without any hiccups.

Section 12: Routines & Calendar

When running a business, every month is different. Certain taxes are due by a certain date, certain tasks should be completed at a certain frequency, etc. You'll see an example Routines Calendar in this section and tailor it to your business’ musts and needs. 

Section 13: Glossary & Acronyms

Any key terms and acronyms that are commonly used in your business can be added to this section. By maintaining a comprehensive and up-to-date Glossary & Acronyms section, you will ensure that everyone in your team is on the same page and able to communicate effectively. 

Section 14: Test Your Knowledge (for your employees)

When you hire a new team member and ask them to read this Manual, you can test their knowledge with a short quiz to make sure that they have read it carefully and captured the important details. You'll have an example quiz in this section that you can modify the questions as you’d like.

How to use your Operations Manual on Notion?

You'll download a PDF document titled "Mini Guidebook for Small Business Operations Manual" upon your purchase. The PDF will include the link to the Operations Manual that you will duplicate to your Notion account to make it yours. The PDF will also contain easy-to-follow instructions on how to customize and use your Manual.