The RV Entrepreneur podcast host Rose Willard shows how having an Alien Abduction Manual can keep your business running smoothly, in the event of…anything.
Okay, so no one here is getting abducted by aliens. Right? The name may seem unusual, but it’s a lot more fun than discussing your business’s systems manual (and easier to say).
What’s a systems manual? It’s an ever-evolving manual of how every system, policy, and procedure functions in your business. My husband and I called our procedures manual from our previous business an alien abduction manual because it outlined how to run the business if one or both of us were “abducted by aliens.”
Jokes aside, our systems manual was one component of giving our business “legs” to operate in our absence. Let’s “probe” how an “alien abduction manual” can help you even as an RV entrepreneur.
What Does A Systems Manual Include?
When starting your own alien abduction manual, be prepared to not only update but continue to add more systems and procedures. It will grow with the business. What should be included in the manual? The simple answer is everything that keeps the business functioning.
This includes instructions and every aspect for:
- How customer leads are managed.
- Canned responses for email leads.
- Onboarding procedures for new clientele.
- Follow-up procedures.
- Bookkeeping and financial instruction.
- Bookkeeping software instructions.
- POS and merchant services instructions.
- Tax Systems.
- Filing dates.
- Forms that are filed at the state and federal level.
- Estimated tax dates.
- Payroll tax dates.
- Corporate tax dates and procedures.
- Federal and state regulations applicable to the business and how they’re managed.
- State and federal fee filing dates.
- Contacts at state and federal agencies.
- Legal agreements between the business and clientele.
- Blank contracts and waivers.
- Procedures for NIST-compliant storage of personal information.
- Employee onboarding and offloading.
- Systems for 1099’s and W2’s
- Employee expectations, policies, and procedures.
- Employee termination protocol.
- Instructions for marketing systems including a media kit, print/digital media, and scheduling.
- Opening and closing procedures (applicable to brick-and-mortar businesses).
- Welcoming procedures for new customers/clients.
- Communication procedures with clients or customers.
- Client management systems.
- Instructions for software used to manage clients.
- Scripts for corresponding with customers/clientele.
- Pre-established scripts for you and staff to follow when communicating with clientele.
- Instructions for POS and other payment systems.
- How the companies that manage your POS and payment systems are managed.
- Organization and management of professional services (attorneys, accountants, etc.)
- Outline of patents if applicable.
- Any procedure that’s specific to your business.
- This list will grow as your business grows and matures.
The above list is a global example. Your own business’s manual may look different than our alien abduction manual. If any procedure in your business can be explained to someone while sitting around a campfire, it’s worthy of being added to the manual.
How Do You Write A Systems Manual?
For the most part, you will not have to formally write how operations work for everything directly into a “manual.” Instead, as you create digital files on your computer for each policy, procedure, operation, and system, you’ll move a copy into a redundantly backed-up file labeled “Systems and Operations.” Any name that’s fitting for your business will do.
The objective is that it can be opened and easily comprehended as a roadmap to running your business. You also have the option to turn it into a binder if you’re old-school. In my opinion, too many changes will occur with your systems, rendering a tangible binder too slow for updates. Besides, you don’t have a lot of room in your RV for a printer and a binder.
Who Is a Systems Manual For?
Anyone who owns a business whether it is its own legal entity or operated as a Schedule C can benefit from a systems/procedure manual. Not only is it beneficial to the ongoing operation of your business in your absence, but it also serves as a platform for an annual review of your operations.
In other words, you should establish a manual if you operate a business, regardless of the size. The intention is usually to grow, so a roadmap will not only be beneficial, but necessary.
How Often Should You Update Your Systems Manual?
I sincerely believe a systems manual should be initialized when a new business is started and updated frequently. Once the business operates fluidly, you’ll update the manual less frequently.
We didn’t have a set schedule for updating our manual but rather made changes to it every time we altered any system or procedure in the business. Eventually, it became a natural occurrence.
Who Should Have Access To Your Alien Abduction Manual?
Your entire “alien abduction manual” for your eyes, trusted “C-level” staff, your attorney, and the individual or group that buys your business.
If your business is large enough, the manual may require encryption as it will contain sensitive information specific to your business.
How you disseminate this information to certain individuals associated with your business will ultimately be your call.
Do You Need An Alien Abduction Manual As A Solopreneur?
The “alien abduction manual” is not just for others if you’re whisked away in a flying saucer. It’s also a reference for you if you forget how to do something that occurs less frequently in your business.
With that said, perhaps you need to step away from your operating business for health, personal, or emergency reasons and you need someone else to step in to run the show temporarily. Your manual will be their guide to keeping the business afloat during your brief absence.
Another benefit for a solopreneur to maintain is a systems and procedure manual to help outline the necessary steps for the next business down the road. A true entrepreneur is always looking for ways to capitalize on solving problems for others. This will not be your last business and a guide expedites the next business.
Lastly, if you play your cards right and give your business “legs” to stand on its own, it will be in a position to sell. Yes, this can even be done by a solopreneur. Your manual will be a necessary part of the sale. We were legally and contractually obligated to supply an operations manual to the new owner of our business when we sold in late 2020.
Have you developed an “alien abduction manual” for your RV entrepreneurial business?
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