I currently have a small hosting company which for various reasons am having to consider giving up

I wish to sell my customer base of 33 customers (each paying £110/$170 per annum) whats the best way to go about this to protect my interests and my customer interests

Well, the best thing to do is get some offers for your customers or if you are prepared to give your clients away then first you need to get a list of good companies with good reviews, about 5-10 companies.

After you have your list start to look into their features to match your current customers requirements. After you have your very short list get the companies that are interested to write a contract so you are protected and made sure any payments are done with PayPal or something you know they can't get there money back without reason.

When it comes to protecting your customers you mainly need to make sure the company they are going to are rated high and have the staff to keep up the service.

You could also ask some of the LARGER companies to buy out your customers but some times this is not the best thing to do as larger companies may not offer the same service as a small - medium hosting company.

Hope my little post helps :)

NOTE
(Mods: may want to move this thread to a different section)

Posting some further info here might help,
ie. shared hosting ? linux or windows ? US or other ? etc.

The more info you can provide, the better any replies should be.
also are you looking to 'sell' the business or just the clients ?

Just selling the customers as there is no web site - customers have been taken on by word of mouth

All are hosted on a VPS which costs $35 pcm

if you are using a reseller account or have a dedicated server with a hosting company, you may contact them first and see what they can offer. This can work best for your customers as the changeover will be seemless.

You could post a topic in the forum here and look for people who are willing to buy your clients. I think the current rate is around 1 years income. There are some companies that specialise in just buying and selling clients, although I'm not sure how good they are as I've never dealt with them.

You should do monthly competitors analysis to know what's going on in the industry (what you have more than others plus what you still have less than others) and read web hosting news so you will know what to offer :)

I will also say you might need to offer some good deal like with promotions or discounts...

You should do monthly competitors analysis to know what's going on in the industry (what you have more than others plus what you still have less than others) and read web hosting news so you will know what to offer :)

I will also say you might need to offer some good deal like with promotions or discounts...
:homer: Hmm, don't sell your valued customers to people that don't read ;)

Just selling the customers as there is no web site - customers have been taken on by word of mouth

All are hosted on a VPS which costs $35 pcm


So, you're making about $15 per month and spending $35 per month? If that's the case, these customers have no value and are actually a liability.

--Tina

So, you're making about $15 per month and spending $35 per month? If that's the case, these customers have no value and are actually a liability.

--Tina

$170 a year x 33 customers = $5,610

Divided by 12 = $467.15 monthly income / monthly expense -

$432.50 profit.

Now because they are all Annual they are worth considerably less than monthly clients.

First advice is if they are UK customers (billed in £) then deal in £ and Post in the offers section. Or contact some hosts that may be looking to buy or do a deal.

The price you will or won't get will largely depend on the type of packages your offering, the payment methods, when they all renew etc.

$170 a year x 33 customers = $5,610

Divided by 12 = $467.15 monthly income / monthly expense -

$432.50 profit.

Now because they are all Annual they are worth considerably less than monthly clients.

First advice is if they are UK customers (billed in £) then deal in £ and Post in the offers section. Or contact some hosts that may be looking to buy or do a deal.

The price you will or won't get will largely depend on the type of packages your offering, the payment methods, when they all renew etc.


Correct! I missed the part where he said EACH paying...


--Tina

You could also ask some of the LARGER companies to buy out your customers but some times this is not the best thing to do as larger companies may not offer the same service as a small - medium hosting company. Then again, a larger company might have the experience to handle this kind of transfer properly, and the funds to pay close to market value. Which brings in a point: look for companies that have a history of buying out other hosts, and doing so successfully.