General Business content templates
Make business plans, meeting records and proposals easier to read and act on. These guides cover structure, useful sample language and checks for a clear HTML document.
Decks
- Decks
Investment prospectus: an outline for counsel to review
A prospectus is the document that describes an offering of securities to potential investors, covering the business, the offering terms, the risks and the financial information.
- Decks
Board deck: a pack directors can read before the meeting
A board deck is the pack a management team prepares for its board, and its job is to let directors make decisions after reading it before the meeting.
Documents
- Documents
Digital document: a format and structure readers can use
A digital document is any document that exists as an electronic file or web page rather than on paper, so it has to work on a screen: readable, searchable, copyable and easy to pass on.
- Documents
Strategic plan: priorities, owners and measures
A strategic plan sets the small number of priorities an organisation will pursue over a multi-year period and states how progress will be measured.
- Documents
Corporate memo: say what changes, when, and who must act
A corporate memo is a short internal message that announces a decision, a policy change or a required action, and it works only if a reader can act on it after one reading.
- Documents
Consulting proposal template: a scope the client can approve
A consulting proposal describes the problem a client has, the advisory work you will do to address it, what is included and excluded, what the client must provide and what it costs.
- Documents
Meeting minutes template: a record people can act on
Useful meeting minutes record what was decided, what happens next, and what remains unresolved.
- Documents
Project brief template: the problem, the limits and the test of done
A project brief states why a project exists, what it must deliver, the limits it works within and how success will be judged, and it is written before the work starts.
- Documents
Executive summary: the decision, the reasons and the ask
An executive summary gives a decision-maker the situation, the recommendation, the main reasons and risks, and the specific ask, so they can act without reading the body.
References
- References
Internal wiki page: one task, an owner and a review date
An internal wiki page explains one task or topic that colleagues need, such as a process, a tool or a team's responsibilities, and it names the person who keeps it current.
- References
FAQ page: the questions people ask, answered first
An FAQ page answers the questions people ask most often about a product, service or policy, in the words they use, with the direct answer first and the detail after it.
Reports
- Reports
SWOT analysis: evidence in each box, and an action for each
A SWOT analysis sorts the situation into strengths and weaknesses, which the organisation controls, and opportunities and threats, which come from outside.
- Reports
Business model canvas: nine blocks, each with an assumption to test
A business model canvas is a one-page map of how an organisation creates, delivers and captures value, split into nine blocks from customer segments to cost structure.
- Reports
Decision log: one entry per decision, with its reasons
A decision log is a running register in which each significant decision gets its own dated entry, with a stable identifier, the reasons it was taken and an accountable owner.
- Reports
Investor update: results against plan, risks and asks
An investor update is a periodic report to people who already hold an interest in the company, covering results against plan, what changed, the main risks and what the company needs from investors.
Related templates
- Checklists
Daily Cleaning Checklist
Log routine facility cleaning and sanitation.
- Requests
Contract Approval Routing
Internal form to route contracts for legal review.
- Requests
Courier/Shipping Request
Arrange for outbound package delivery.
