How to sack me
Most people never read this. It is here because the ones who do should find a straight answer, not a phone number to ring.
Every supplier I have ever replaced was holding something. A domain, a login, a set of files, or just the only copy of how it all fits together. That is the leverage, and it is why people put up with bad service for years. I do not want it, so here is how to leave.
What you own
- Your domain name. Registered in your name, on your card, with your email address on the account.
- Your website. The code, the words and the pictures. You have a copy of all of it.
- Your accounts. Hosting, email, contact form, booking and visitor stats. Each one is in your name with your billing details on it.
- Your content. Everything you have written or uploaded, in a form another supplier can read.
I sell no licences. There is nothing on your site that only I can renew.
Where it lives
- The domain sits with your registrar. You have the login.
- The website is a set of files in an account in your name. It keeps every version and who changed what, so nothing is ever only in my head.
- The live site is served by your hosting account, which builds it from those files.
- The contact form, the booking page and the visitor stats are separate accounts, each in your name.
None of that is unusual, and none of it is mine.
How to take it back, without asking me
- Change the password on each account and remove my access. You do not need my agreement, and nothing breaks when you do it.
- Take a copy of the files, or give your new supplier read access.
- Point the domain wherever you want it next.
- Tell me, or do not. Either is fine.
There is no notice period on a care plan. It is paid monthly and you can stop at the end of any month.
What it would cost you to go
Nothing to me. Most of the sites I build are static, which means the live site is just files. It will run on anything that serves files, including free hosting. Your new supplier would need to point the contact form and the visitor stats somewhere else, which is about an hour of work.
What I will do
- Answer your new supplier’s questions for a month, at no charge.
- Hand over the working notes: what runs where, what renews when, and anything odd about your setup.
- Not argue.
If I am not around
I am one person, so I am not an emergency service. The point of everything above is that you never depend on me to keep trading. Everything is in your name, on your card, and anyone competent can pick it up. Being without me for a fortnight is an inconvenience. It is not a crisis.
