A business that only works when the owner is present cannot grow or take a holiday. This manual writes down how the business actually runs: the standards, the organisation, the core routines and escalation steps, the cash policy and the systems that hold the records. Each page has one job and can be read on its own.

The sample is the manual of Havenbrook Group, a fictional group of three cafes, a central kitchen and a bakery with 38 staff. It shows a numbered opening routine, a fridge-failure flow, a cash policy with a £5 tolerance and a systems map. Replace the company, chart and contacts with your own, and set an owner and a review month for each section.