Digital edition · illustrated viewDF.021 · Work · First edition
Solo Founder Continuity File
If you are unavailable, the person covering your business needs the current client deadlines, the work that may continue and the decisions they may make. Record those limits and the actions due in the first hours and days.
- Edition
- First edition, 2026 · v1.0
- Page size
- A4210 × 297 mm
- Cover options
- 8
- Files
- Print PDF
- Low-Ink PDF
- Fillable PDF
- Tablet PDF
- Interactive
- Available soon, with the Interactive and Complete Editions
What this edition lets you do
- Record who may make each decision
- Name the person, the limit of their authority and the point at which confirmation is required.
- List client deadlines and messages
- Record current commitments, deliverables and the first message to send when work changes.
- Close temporary cover on return
- Review actions, payments and messages, assign each open item and remove temporary access.
For example A consultant is unavailable for a week while a client milestone is due. The named contact can find the deadline, communication plan and the decisions that require approval.
About this edition
The Solo Founder Continuity File records who may act during an absence, which work continues, which work pauses and where each person’s authority stops.
Start with one critical activity: its deadline, dependencies, minimum operating level and safe-pause action. Then record the people who may act, client commitments, money and obligations, systems and automations.
The time-banded action pages cover the first four hours, the rest of the first day, days two to seven and days eight to thirty. The return page records what was done, assigns open items and removes temporary access.
Record the decisions a cover person may make and the work they may continue or pause
- Record who may act and how far
- The decision-authority page lists what a person may do, what requires confirmation and what is outside their authority, with the limit, source and expiry.
- Record what continues and what pauses
- The critical-activity map gives each activity a consequence, longest acceptable interruption, minimum operating level and priority.
- List the first actions
- Time-banded pages cover the first four hours, the rest of the first day, days two to seven and days eight to thirty.
- Record client commitments
- A register and one current record per client list deadlines, deliverables and the first message to send if work changes.
- Record where account recovery is managed
- Each system and account page records the provider, account role and location of the approved recovery method.
- Close the absence
- Review changes, payments and client messages, assign each open item and remove temporary access.
Who it is for
- Solo founders and sole traders with active clients, suppliers and systems.
- Consultants and studio owners who work alone or with a small number of contractors.
- Founders preparing for leave, travel, illness or another period of reduced availability, together with the person covering defined work.
See a completed example
Leah Morton, Northline Studio, Leeds
Completed example · Fictional information
Leah runs a one-person design studio. Her file is activated on 24 August 2026 at 09:10 and her continuity contact, Owen Price, covers until she returns on 31 August. The example includes a daily review at 16:00, a paused newsletter, a confidential client and a backup that fails its restore test.
What you do
- Record one critical activity with its deadline, dependency, minimum operating level and safe-pause action.
- Add the continuity contact and the authority source and limit for each decision.
- List clients, money obligations and critical systems, using the same reference whenever an item appears.
- Record automations that may need pausing and the actions due in the first hours and days.
- Test one temporary-cover scenario and record the date in the test and review log.
- Review the file after a material change and on the next review date.
In use
In each format
- Print PDF
- Full-colour pages for printing.
- Low-Ink PDF
- Printable pages with reduced solid fills.
- Fillable PDF
- Fields for typing in a PDF reader. Tested in Chrome and Firefox.
- Tablet PDF
- Pages for handwriting in a PDF annotation app, with the repeat pack, additional records and quick reference in the same file.
- Interactive Edition
- Available soon. The same continuity file for browser completion.
Interactive Edition · Available soon
Type into the pages in your browser and choose from the available lists where a field uses fixed options. Each field holds what fits on the printed page and warns you near the limit.
The project shows Saved after it is stored on the device. Save a backup to continue on another supported browser or device. Export a reading PDF or fillable PDF.
Scope
Record authority that already exists, together with approved account-recovery locations. Store passwords, authentication codes and other secret values in the secure system used for those credentials.
Use the relevant legal, tax, accounting, banking, insurance, cyber-security, data-protection or succession adviser where the absence requires specialist arrangements.
Questions
- What does it cover?
- Critical activities, authority limits, client commitments, money and obligations, systems, accounts, automations, time-banded actions and the return.
- Where do I start?
- Record one critical activity with its deadline, dependency, minimum operating level and safe-pause action.
- Which format should I use?
- Print for paper, Low-Ink for reduced solid fills, Fillable for typed PDF entries or Tablet for handwriting with a stylus. An Interactive Edition, for completing the record in your browser, is available soon.
- What is included?
- Single includes one cover in the listed PDF formats, repeat pack, additional records, quick reference, completed example and Start Here. Interactive and Complete Editions are available soon: Interactive adds the browser edition, and Complete includes every cover in the listed formats and the Interactive Edition.
- Is the completed example included?
- Yes. Northline Studio, its people, clients and systems are fictional.
Version history
Updates within version 1 are included. Each one appears in your library with a note of what changed.
