Commissioned Personal History · Work & contribution

The Business We Built

A founder or family-business narrative connecting the idea, labor, decisions and succession.

Standard edition · $1200.00

24-page designed archival PDF, approximately 5,000–7,000 words; title and dedication, narrative, selected chronology, photo captions if supplied, source and uncertainty notes; MP3 narration and accessible TXT transcript. One private proof and one consolidated revision within scope.

Estimated 15–25 business days after complete usable materials and permissions; customer review and approved scope changes add time. Confirm gift deadlines before purchase.

Price reserves about 24 editorial hours at $50/hour across the full production workflow.

Commission standard edition

Expanded edition · $1700.00

36-page archival PDF, approximately 8,000–10,000 words; MP3 narration, accessible TXT transcript, source notes, private proof and two consolidated revisions. Adds up to six further milestones and two further contributors within the same subject; two consolidated revision rounds; up to 90 source-recording minutes or 18,000 source-transcript words.

Estimated 25–35 business days after complete materials and permissions; review time excluded.

Commission expanded edition

The editorial assignment

one business; up to three principal contributors and twelve milestones; no valuation or legal due diligence

Customer materials and free accessible sources only; no exhaustive genealogy, title search, legal verification or guaranteed finding.

Questions that shape your story

What problem did the first version of the business solve?
Who contributed labor, money or knowledge at the beginning?
Which decision changed the business most?
What should successors understand that the accounts cannot tell them?

Fictional sample spread · all people and records invented

The Business We Built — a fictional sample spread

The opening advertisement promised repairs on Saturday mornings. The ledger showed how few customers came in the first month. Lena and Paul remembered the same beginning differently: she recalled the unpaid paperwork; he recalled fitting shelves after his other job. Both kinds of labor belong in the account. Later success does not turn early uncertainty into a guaranteed plan. Revenue claims require records and permission, and the family edition is not a valuation of the enterprise.

This is a two-page design and writing preview, not a complete purchased edition.

Open designed PDF preview Download PDF sample Accessible sample text

Photos, files and your own voice

Choose your own permitted photos, separately approved licensed non-identifying stock, or a typography-only design. No generated identifiable people. No new stock purchase is included.

Standard archival PDF plus accessible TXT and MP3. On request, a DOCX reading copy of the approved text, without reproducing the print layout. No print book or physical delivery is included.

Supply written answers, your existing transcript (up to 12000 words), or your own usable MP3/M4A recording (up to 60 minutes). Save the speakers’ consent in private intake before uploading audio. Recordings are source material for the written edition. Edited original-voice audio and verbatim interview transcription use the separately purchased Interview Companion; narration of the approved history remains included.

Review, privacy and research boundaries

Paid order, private intake and permitted uploads, scope check, writing and design, private proof, one consolidated revision within scope, explicit approval, final private delivery. Paid research is excluded; no archive purchase, subscription, certificate fee or outside researcher is authorized by ordering. Any outside expense needs a separate written quote and explicit customer consent before commitment; the customer pays the provider directly.

You approve names, exclusions and the private recipients. Living subjects and contributors must permit their material and may review their contributions. Customer files use the existing private project system; public portfolio use requires separate consent. No claim of a verified event is made from a recollection alone.

Original MP3 narration of the approved text and a matching accessible TXT transcript. Customer voice is never cloned. Licensed music and commercial clips are excluded.

Standard: one consolidated revision within the purchased scope. Expanded new editions: two. A new subject, substantial new source material or a later change of direction requires a separate accepted quote. No interview scheduling, travel, printing, archive fee, legal advice or guaranteed discovery is included.

The existing Signature Plate remains an optional separately priced physical upgrade with its own proof, approval and U.S. delivery restrictions.