Most small business operational knowledge lives in the founder's head — how processes work, why decisions are made, what to do in various situations. This doesn't scale, creates fragility (illness affects business), and prevents delegation.
What to document
Customer-facing processes (onboarding, ongoing service, off-boarding). Internal processes (decision criteria, escalation paths). Vendor relationships and contacts. Common scenarios and how to handle them. Specific tactical knowledge of how things work.
How to start
Document one process per month. Use templates or simple text. Include screenshots where useful. Make it findable by team. Update as processes evolve.
Six months of consistent documentation produces operations manual that enables hiring, delegation, and scaling.