I've been thinking of buying some customers from another company that will no longer be in business and is selling.

I know I can post in WHT for this request... but what are some other good places I can look at for this?

You shouldn't deal with a third party to acquire customers from another company.

Just look out for any companies posting sale here on WHT, or inquire to some web hosts who you think might want to sell.

Hint: If the company is no longer in business, you won't find any customers. :)

Very true, usually when a host goes out of business means there out of money, in debt, or lost all there clients ;)

They also may just not have the time, so do a full check ;)

*EDIT* Wrong thread! :)

Ok thanks, I don't see too many posts about selling :(

Perhaps I should just post in the requests forum. Give that a try :)

Don't bother trying to buy companies from here. The ones being posted for sale aren't worth what people are bidding on them anymore. A few months ago, you could find some good deals. People bidding here generally have no clue what the real value of a hosting 'company' is worth.

Originally posted by AffordableHost
Don't bother trying to buy companies from here. The ones being posted for sale aren't worth what people are bidding on them anymore. A few months ago, you could find some good deals. People bidding here generally have no clue what the real value of a hosting 'company' is worth.

It seems like some people have taken the 6-months-of-revenue thing to heart... even when, by no stretch of the imagination, should the company be worth that much.

Example: A company has 15 customers and $200/month in revenue. They're on a $150/month dedicated server. People bid $800-$1000 for this company's customers.

There is no way a company that has only been in business for a few months and is only making $50/month in profit (before any other costs beyond the server!) is worth $800 to buy out.

Sometimes I think it'd be more beneficial to start a company, run it for 3 months, and sell it for a high rate on WHT (and then repeat ad infinitum) than to actually build a productive, long-lasting company that has thousands of customers. :P

Originally posted by Simpli-Erica
Sometimes I think it'd be more beneficial to start a company, run it for 3 months, and sell it for a high rate on WHT (and then repeat ad infinitum) than to actually build a productive, long-lasting company that has thousands of customers. :P

I believe there are quite a few who do just that. Seeing from what they say in their posts, it's fairly obvious that they started it 3 months ago, and right after selling the previous one. :)

Richard

Originally posted by AffordableHost
People bidding here generally have no clue what the real value of a hosting 'company' is worth.

I would be completely amazed if one of those 'companies' ever was able to show me an income statement or the rest of their financials. :P

Richard

I see thanks. No, i'm not about to pay $800 for 15 clients, i'm not THAT insane.

I actually just wanted to pick up some cheapie customers (don't ask). I'm looking for a small 300 customer base size with customers currently paying $3.95-$5.95 per account. How much do you think would be resonable to pay for something like that? I know there are other things to take into consideration yada yada, but i'm just curious what you guys think it would be...

The difference here is buying a 'company' and buying customers. I believe the objection, and I know this is my case, comes in when buying a 'company'. Most of the 'companies' are not "real". That's my main objection.

In regards to buying customers, it's not such a bad idea (or is it? read rest). We were considering it a few months ago. I'd say this would be a safe way to know how much you should be willing to pay: how much do you spend in advertising to get a customer? Does it cost you $20 per customer? If so, then 300 customers would be worth $6,000 to you in advertising expenses.

There are a few other factors to keep in mind, as well. I would consider 300 customers to be a substantial customer base. By this I mean that the owner of the company would probably be content. I honestly don't know of many providers with that many customers that would want to sell. It's not a whole lot to make a living, but it's a good enough number to brag about to your friends or so at work.

As well, consider what you gain. If you spend $6k in acquisition, that's all you get. If you spend $6k in advertising, and it yields the same result, then you not only have the customers gained, but also the branding on the other potentials that you had not gained at that time.

My biggest suggestion would be to avoid acquisition, unless you can actually find a good opportunity (which would be rare, and I have no idea where you'd find it), and instead, focus on advertising. Yes, the ideal is to buy someone else out and then grow from word of mouth, but it will be hard to find that opportunity. If you find it, then it's worth a lot of money.

Richard

p.s. 300 posts