Ready for a rant? Protecting your business assets — your domain names, hosting accounts, and licenses for any and all software and online services is not something most people think about. If you’re new to the online business world, this is really important. Please read it and save yourself a whole lot of headache and expense — and feel free to share it with anyone who could use it.
If I have to deal with this scenario one more time, I am going to… well, let’s just say if I were a violent person it wouldn’t be pretty.
Today I discovered that a client’s domain names were registered by her previous web developer — IN THE DEVELOPER’S NAME!!!! Can I scream this loud enough? WHAT THE ??????????????? I have run across this more times than I care to count. What in the name of Pete makes anyone think that it’s OK to take a client’s money and put any account or any intellectual property in the developer’s name? So now we have a gigantic mess to battle out — all completely needlessly.
Your online business is heavily dependent upon your domain names, host account, and licenses to any and all software and services. You need to protect those business assets! So here’s the bottom line:
**To ALL Business Owners – no matter how technically challenged, no matter how “nice” and no matter how well-intentioned** You ready? You listening?
DO NOT let anyone else control the keys to your kingdom. Never. Ever. Period. No exceptions!
Your business, if you are internet based, is dependent upon your online accounts — your domain name, your host provider, your eCommerce provider — the whole enchilada. It’s not your fault that some unscrupulous (or best case, simply uneducated) web developer said “I’ll take care of everything.” You didn’t know better, but that’s why I’m writing.
As the business owner, it is a very big deal whether or not you have control of your own accounts. If you are comfortable setting up your accounts, do it. If you’re not, then here are the rules:
Never, ever, EVER allow someone else to set up your accounts unless:
- You have good reason to trust them (that person is not a stranger to you);
- You have made your instructions perfectly clear to them:
- Set up this account for me – in my name, using my credit card, and my email
- Immediately after you set up the accounts for me, send me a password-protected file with the details of the account — a receipt for payment, the login and ID for the account, and exactly the terms of the account.
If you don’t do these things you could find yourself wasting hours of time, possibly gazillions of dollars in attorney’s fees, and losing sleep at night because your kingdom — your business assets — belong to someone else!
Let me reiterate that I don’t blame you. I know you are anxious to get your new business off the ground and that smooth talking web developer made you feel so much better because you could just leave everything to him and it would be alright. But being the business owner carries with it the weight of responsibility. Ultimately, the business is yours and you are responsible for all aspects of it. So don’t let yourself be lulled into trusting the first person who says they’ll take care of everything. They just may “take care” of controlling your business assets, and the keys to your kingdom!
