Contingency plan for your clients in case you die
 

Just got thinking the other day if i suddenly drop dead some of my customers are going to suddenly have a hard time.

I build and maintain websites for a lot of local small businesses and typically I look after their domain names, hosting, etc, all under my own accounts. I've had some customers who choose to look after their own domains and have had 2 of them lose them by simply forgetting to renew them. So most of the time i just handle the domain registration for them.

What's a good way to make it so clients arent going to be fucked over if my heart explodes tomorrow? (Make it easy for them to access their website files, databases, domain names) All the domains are under one namecheap account and the sites are all hosted on the same server at amerinoc.

I knew a guy that this happened to. Similar story. Had a bunch of local clients, mostly older folks that knew nothing about the Internet and ran small businesses. He passed away and all hell ensued. I tried helping these people out by getting them set up with new web hosting. It was a total disaster. In the end, 50% of them thought I was trying to scam them and the other 50% just disappeared.

It's a nice thought though, hopefully you get some good ideas in this thread.

I have a plan in place, after I had a life changing incident three years ago.
Hadn't thought about it much prior to that.

Ya im just trying to figure out how this would work and currently i think it would be a shitstorm.

You need a protege to take over the business after your death.

I guess just keeping a file somewhere that has all my logins and accounts would be a start. Would just have to make sure my kids know where to find it once people start calling. Won't do anyone good stuck in a filing cabinet or in some random folder on my computer.

I plan to depart from life clientless ...

its more for valuable domains but there is http://domainguardians.com/#services

Yes - You need a child to do things YOUR way... Perhaps one called 'Charlie Bucket'...

business idea?

You need (1) Family member you can trust. Handing them a list of usernames/passwords really doesn't help much if they don't know what to do.

In my case my brother is 15+ years younger than me and tech literate so he's been schooled should I drop what to do with my 700+ aged domains for sale and another 70ish domains that are developed etc...

Clients should also have a backup plan should you drop off the face of the earth...

I have been thinking a lot about this over the last year.
I recently turned 40 and I am well aware anything could happen anyday.

I am he main breadwinner in our household, I also deal with everything money related including mortgages, insurances and bills.

I of course have a full and complete list of usernames and passwords which I of course keep encrypted.
I have multiple life insurance policies, bitcoin, savings all over the place..

My wife is not really computer literate and there is no one else I could trust so I have the mammoth task of writing every single little thing down in the hope she will find someone to make sense of it.

Good thread btw.

I thought about it a long time ago - Some sort of insurance - It would be great for a host for instance - If we go tits up then your sites will stay up for x amount of time because we are covered...

First - send back up files for your clients to hold on just in case.
As for domains - have a list stored on your computer and tell your family/friends to act on it if you die.

I'm not getting any younger, seeing friend and acquaintances not much older than me dying suddely so I did start thinking of this a couple of years ago so I wrote out an inventory of what I own online - domains, websites, content - with logins to domain registrars, email contact for people to talk to whom I trust. Included what I think they're worth and where/how to sell them, of course including a warning to be wary of people looking to get a quick bargain.

I need to revise it, the realistic values of what I own are way down from when I did this 2-3 years ago.

by this thread and general online development? seems like a great idea/time.. however people don't like thinking about dying.. so how do you market a service that is only beneficial after you die?

Can server hosts be asked to enact a sort of 'emergency takeover' request so that if you croak suddenly they would know who it was pre-arranged with to takeover the site[s]? That person could be someone who was very trusted to takeover with knowledge on sites/ memberships etc.....

if you set it up right im sure many hosts would be fine with that.

Here it is boys and girls .. Administering Digital Assets

18 pages of good reading. :2 cents::2 cents:
Last two contain the necessary clauses.:thumbsup