The ADHD Entrepreneur's Guide to Systems That Actually Make Money

Why your SOPs keep gathering digital dust and how to build a visual system that saves your sanity

I used to be that entrepreneur.

You know the one, building systems on scraps of paper and Google Docs that would never see the light of day. Losing interest halfway through or handing the task off to a team member and never checking back in to see if it was completed.

Every time a mentor mentioned the importance of having a system, my chest would tighten.

I knew that these processes were important, but I couldn’t figure out how to set them up without feeling overwhelmed and chaotic.

So I’d push it off and sooner or later find myself explaining the same process for the tenth time, or even worse, just doing it myself because it was easier than explaining it.

Sound familiar?

If you're reading this and thinking, "Hey, how do you know about my business?!" it’s because you're not the only one.

I've spoken to hundreds of business owners with unconventional brains like ours, and the answer is always the same.

Traditional standard operating procedures (SOPs) suck.

Why Traditional SOPs Feel Like Torture for ADHD Brains

Here's what nobody tells you about standard operating procedures: they're designed by and for neurotypical brains that find comfort in detailed, linear documentation.

For those of us with ADHD symptoms? They're basically productivity kryptonite.

Traditional SOP creation goes something like this: outline all the steps, break down the sub-steps, link all the sub-steps, create detailed instructions for every possible scenario…

It's methodical, thorough, and mind-numbingly tedious.

When you're a business owner with ADHD, this process hits every one of our pain points:

Working memory struggles mean we forget we asked someone to create an SOP in the first place. (Raise your hand if you've ever assigned a task and then completely forgotten about it until months later.)

Time blindness makes SOP creation take twice as long as expected. I can't count how many times I sat down to "quickly document" a 10-minute process only to spend two hours trying to explain it clearly while recording.

Executive function differences make it nearly impossible to prioritize this "important but not urgent" task when there are fires to put out and revenue to chase.

And here's the kicker: even when we do create these beautiful, detailed documents, we struggle to maintain them. They become snapshots of processes that no longer exist, creating more confusion than clarity.

The Hidden Cost of SOP Neglect

But here's what I learned the hard way: neglecting to create and maintain systems isn't just an organizational issue, it's a business growth killer.

Without documented processes, your business becomes entirely dependent on one or two superstars who, when they leave, take all their knowledge with them. Suddenly, you don't have a business; you have a couple of people you're desperately dependent on.

Even worse, these team members might have developed their own "secret sauce" that they don't fully understand themselves. They might change something one day (maybe they decide to try a new approach or get distracted by a shiny object), and suddenly your business stops working. You're left staring at lower revenue with no idea how to fix it because the change was never documented.

It can take weeks or months to figure out that someone has "improved" a small step in the process and actually broken the entire funnel.

The SOP Pipeline: A Visual Solution for Unconventional Thinkers

After years of struggling with traditional documentation, I developed what I call the SOP Pipeline. Honestly, of all the systems I teach, this is the one that gets me most excited for business owners.

Here's why it works for ADHD brains: instead of creating another document to forget about, you're building a visual, interactive map of your entire business.

Think of it like this, imagine you're looking at a city and need to understand all the pipes: where they come from, where they go, how they connect. When one pipe breaks, you need to see exactly where the water is flowing so you can quickly fix the problem.

Your business works the same way. Leads come in, sales go out, customers stay and expand. There's a pipeline process to all of it, but most of us have never actually mapped it out visually.

How to Build Your Business Pipeline

Here's how to create your own SOP Pipeline (and trust me, this is way more fun than traditional documentation):

Step 1: Map Your Flow

Start with a visual tool like Miro (though paper works too if you're more tactile). Begin with how people first discover your business. Is it through SEO? Social media? Referrals? Put that in a box.

Then follow the journey: Where do they go next? Your website? A lead magnet? Social media? Keep adding boxes and arrows showing the path people take from stranger to customer to raving fan.

Don't be surprised if you have a successful business and realize you can't actually answer these questions clearly. I've worked with six and seven-figure entrepreneurs who had no idea how their customer journey actually worked.

Step 2: Assign Ownership

For each stage of your pipeline, assign one person who's responsible. Not a team, not "whoever gets to it". One specific person whose job it is to keep that pipe green and flowing smoothly.

This person doesn't have to do all the work, but they're accountable for making sure it happens and happens well.

Step 3: Link Your Documentation

Here's where it gets good: hyperlink each stage to its corresponding SOP document. This makes it immediately obvious which parts of your business have no documentation at all (spoiler: it's usually more than you think).

Then, when someone needs to understand or update a process, they can click directly from the visual pipeline to the detailed instructions.

Step 4: Implement the Traffic Light System

Now comes the simple shift that makes this powerful for ADHD brains, the color-coding system:

Red = Broken pipe. No SOP, no responsible person, or the process simply isn't working.

Orange = Pipe is running but has issues. Maybe the SOP exists but isn't complete, or it's not producing the results you need.

Green = Everything's working. There's a clear SOP, someone's accountable, and it's delivering the results you want without your involvement.

The goal is to get everything to green, but the visual nature means you can see at a glance what needs attention most urgently.

Making It Stick: The Weekly Review System

Here's how you avoid the "create and forget" trap that kills most systems:

Make your SOP Pipeline part of your weekly leadership meetings. When you review your revenue metrics (which you should be doing weekly), also pull up your pipeline.

Often, when business owners review metrics but can't figure out why numbers are down, the pipeline tells the story. Maybe your lead generation is red, or your customer retention process is orange. The visual makes it immediately clear where to focus your problem-solving energy.

During these weekly reviews:

• Celebrate pipes that turn green (seriously, acknowledge the team member who made it happen)

• Ask for specific plans to address orange and red areas

• Update SOPs based on what's actually working

• Resist the urge to add new pipes when existing ones are broken

Why This Works for ADHD Entrepreneurs

The SOP Pipeline solves several ADHD-specific challenges:

It's visual and engaging, not just another boring document to ignore.

It gamifies your systems, making it actually fun to see progress from red to green.

It provides accountability for both you and your team. When something's red on the board, you can't pretend it's not a problem.

It prevents shiny object syndrome by showing you exactly what's already broken before you go chasing new opportunities.

It gives you that crucial "sight line" into your business that prevents the anxiety of feeling like you're driving fast down a dark highway with no headlights.

Your Next Steps

If you're tired of creating systems that gather dust and team members who constantly need your input for the same processes, it's time to try something different.

Start small. Pick one area of your business, maybe your customer onboarding or your content creation process. Map it out visually. Assign ownership. Create the SOP using the simple method I’ve outlined previously (hint: record yourself talking through it, then use AI to create the written documentation).

Then bring it to your next team meeting. Show them the pipeline. Explain the color system. Watch what happens when people actually see how their work connects to the bigger picture.

Remember, the goal isn't perfection, it's progress. Red pipes become orange, orange pipes become green, and suddenly you have a business that runs without you having to remember every single detail.

Because here's the truth that took me years to understand: as ADHD entrepreneurs, we're never going to be great at traditional systems. But we can be absolutely brilliant at creating visual, engaging, accountability-driven systems that work with our brains instead of against them.

Your business deserves systems that actually get used. Your team deserves clarity about what they're responsible for and how it connects to success. And you deserve to stop feeling like you're the only person who knows how anything works.

The SOP Pipeline isn't just documentation; it's a visual command center for your business. And once you see your business this way, you'll wonder how you ever managed without it.

Ready to build your own SOP Pipeline? Just comment “SOP” below, and I’ll drop a link to our template to help you get started.

Wishing you focused, balanced days,

Skye

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