Overview

TWS are happy to takeover or acquire existing web design companies, generally at no charge. For many people, the idea of starting a web design company is attractive and getting the first few customers is usually quite easy, however, the long term appeal can often wear off, mainly because it is hard and demanding work and the return is not that great. However, looking for a way out is not that easy.

The scenario is this, you have 10-20 clients, and they are often demanding and unprofitable. The appeal of starting in business has waned and you feel better suited to a regular wage and working hours without the burden of liability and responsibility associated with running your own business. However, you have 10-20 clients to keep happy. Sure you could manage them in your spare time, but even that prospect is tiring and further, some of them are quite demanding, and who can blame them, they are after all running a business too and possibly require immediate contact with their hosting company for design modifications, e-mail issues or downtime issues. The burden of all this leads you to wish you had never had that great idea to start up a web design company but you don't want to let your clients down or loose face by 'going out of business'. An easy option is to have another company, such as TWS take over your portfolio.

TWS is only interested in taking over small home based businesses that have been started on a shoe string budget or small portfolios as described below. This is not a big time mergers and acquisitions game but rather a friendly gesture that can prove profitable for all parties involved. You might only have a small client based started from friends and family or found yourself picking up clients from an off the cuff business venture started at collage or work. However, we are also keen to look at clients from other sectors such as the print or network/computer hardware market where after creating a single site the idea to start a web design & hosting company seemed natural but where the long term implications are now unattractive. You might be retiring or winding down a current business venture or might be a going concern that wants to transfer a difficult or undesirable client. TWS specialise in engineering comapnies, so this might make sense to you. Your portfolio ideally consists of small brochure websites consisting of 2-20 pages with minimal flash or database integration, possibly all out of date style wise for business involved in the SME sector. In short we are not interested acquiring buildings, large assets, employees or portfolios consisting of large cumbersome and involved websites. If this sounds like you then please bookmark this page for future reference and read on.

TWS has experience in company take overs. Its a complicated and costly business. In theory its easy, but in practice the amount of time involved and effort makes it unprofitable. TWS can handle all of the work for you. The biggest hurdle to cross is contacting each and every client. Sounds easy, but in practice its a process that can take months. People are not answering phones, numbers are wrong, people have moved about but more importantly, each client is a unique person that needs to be handled with care which takes time. You have probably built up a relationship and trust with your client which needs to be preserved. But there's more too it, clients might actually be unhappy with their service, you might have been avoiding calls, you might already be working and unable to see them immediately or deal with their needs. Also, clients might not like the fact that their business has been moved to another company. That's the people side of a takeover, but there's the technical and financial issues too. How much have you been charging your clients. Often informal agreements have been made or low rates set. TWS honour all rates for the first year. Technical challenges include transferring domains, hosting, managing databases, and ensuring all the right account information and history is transferred and understood. Situations where multiple hosting and specific A Name setups have been used need to be handled. Because of all this the prospect of moving clients to a new host is daunting and really unprofitable, especially when compared to the profit associated with getting new clients that require new websites.

How much is your company worth? On paper you'd be surprised at how little a web host and design company is worth. If your charging £100/year for hosting and have 20 clients that's £2000. However, that's £2000 worth of business that is being honoured by TWS, that value wont be realised for 12 months. Further, what is its real worth? How many clients are friends that have low rates, clients with multiple sites and more importantly, how many of those clients are long term prospects. The world is full of people starting web sites up that last for a year or so. Realistically, you'll have clients that have sites that don't work and wont get renewed. For example, a portfolio of time shares in Spain is not an attractive prospect. Because of these issues and the time associated with dealing with new clients and transferring data and hosting platforms, TWS offer a no cost transfer service allowing you to wash your hands of your liability and get on with your life.

TWS is a small business, like yours and understands the burdens of business. To be honest you are probably keen to get it over and done with. TWS offer a quick and easy service. Further, TWS take the time to get to know your clients and ensure that they are happy with the hand over. Your clients are not just numbers, they are individuals. But moreover, because TWS manage websites effectively, you can be assured that your clients are moving onto better grounds. Whilst we honour standard hosting and pricing arrangements, we also discuss your clients expectations of their site and determine what can be done to achieve these results. One of the biggest reasons for loosing interest in running a web design company is clients that do nothing but complain. If you are only hosting sites and not promoting them then its not surprising. Clients expect their web site to generate traffic, but that doesn't happen without effort. You might have spent several years in business already only to realise this for yourself. TWS offer advanced management services that involves the client and provides a common platform for managing traffic and realising expectations. In practice a site that is designed and hosted will not generate alot of traffic but measuring, interpreting and communicating that traffic volume is not easy. You might have Apache Web Logs but your clients probably wont understand them. They are in the dark and can feel cheated and cynical. TWS offer a clear interface for clients which allows them to see how their web site is performing. This means that if their site doesn't appear to work, we can then sit down and determine what can be done. In short, because TWS take the time to pick up your clients business relationship you can rest assured that you are not letting them down.

If you want to know more about how TWS can help you ensure business continuity for your clients please feel free to call now for an informal chat on 07745 466608.