Putting your trust in templates will ensure the job is done right

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Published: 12:00am, 25 Apr 2006Updated: 4:18pm, 8 May 2015

One of the most difficult tasks for an entrepreneur and perfectionist in running a new business is delegating work.

There are thousands of things that need to be done and not enough time in the day for the one or two leaders to do everything necessary.

Letting others do the work means that things are not necessarily consistent and frequently do not comply with the legal, marketing and policy issues that corporate communications require. To get around this dilemma I long ago learned to trust in templates. Templates create consistency, save work and ensure compliance for all company documents.

With the guidance of my corporate counsel and graphic designer, I usually make my own templates in iWork or Office and then distribute them to staff for use. Then all I have to worry about is the individual content in those documents.

Because templates save time and work, I searched for and have discovered some high-quality ones that are worth knowing about.

Let's start with Toot (US$35 www.aurbach.com/Toot/index.html). Toot is a template tool for creating portfolios and resumes for just about any profession. The resumes are digital and, when completed, appear as webpages with links to details about specific experience. The finished product can be e-mailed, posted online or mailed as a cross platform CD or DVD. This is how resumes should be done and the result is as professional and standards-compliant as your profession demands.

Someone finally developed a set of templates to expand Pages' offerings. The Keynotepro company came up with three template kits for Pages (which also come in matching Keynote presentation and iDVD templates) that look spectacular. Each kit is available as a standard version (US$19.95 www.keynotepro.com/themes/) that includes templates for a letterhead, fax, invoice, memo, business notes, envelope, three-panel brochure, vertical brochure and horizontal brochure.