Early-stage teams rarely need a 60-page policy manual. They need one trusted place that explains why the company exists, how people work, what time off and pay look like, and where to get help. This handbook leads with mission and ways of working, keeps each policy to a page, and ends with the contacts staff actually need. It runs to eight pages.

The sample is the handbook of Oakhaven Group, a 22-person scheduling software company, with 25 days of leave, 37.5 contracted hours and share options for every employee. Replace the mission, terms and contacts with your own, check each figure against your contracts and local law, and mark which parts are contractual.