Net Services USA LLC - A review of 2002 and 2003

In early 2002 I had founded my company “Net Services USA LLC”. The original business plan was created. The plan was to setup a small part-time business and maybe grow it to something bigger over time. It was also supposed to be some sort of a parachute for me in case my full-time job would disappear during the times of downsizing in corporate America.

At that time (I still am) I was employed as a Computer Systems Administrator for a large corporation in their Denver office - a small development environment. I was allowed (and encouraged by manager) to use some of the available resources (like the Internet connection) and my break time (spread-out through the day) for personal business (like checking emails, etc.).

With the knowledge of having almost 24/7 access to the Internet and enough time to build up a business I had decided to give it a try. Using a web hosting reseller account I started out. Over time I acquired a few customers and was cash-flow positive pretty much from the start. As my full-time job was paying really well I kept my own business low-profile as no immediate need existed to grow bigger. I was banking on time to help. Word of mouth marketing was my main approach to gain more clients.

Things worked out well in 2002 and I was able to get a nice tax write-off from the business. In early 2003 things at work (full-time job) did not look that promising. The parent company was considering to shut down our location and my manager motivated us to look for other jobs. Mainly within other divisions of our employer, but between the lines we got told that if we see an equal or better job come along outside of the company to consider it. As I was with the company for almost 4 years already a severance package would have been covering my living expenses for a while and so I was not too concerned. I still put a few more efforts into my business and I was able to add some additional income.

In August an opportunity in a different division of the parent company opened up and with some luck I was able to get the job. Same income, similar work. At least that’s how it looked like for a while. I had more responsibilities in regards to 24/7 coverage of a data center and some web servers. The company had done little to maintain the products over the last 2 years and quality of service was awful. So, being on call for a week (every other week) meant higher stress levels and less sleep due to the pager going off at night quite often.

I thought I would be in a safe environment and the own business became less important. I also had less freedom in regards to maintain high support levels during the day. So, one thing lead to another and I considered closing down the business. I decided to close down the business with style. I had made good money through-out the year and I was not in need to sell the clients for the highest price. I’d rather tried to make sure they would receive the same kind of attention and high level of support as I had provided it in the past.

I found a person interested covering the requirements I mandated when handing over the clients. In fall of 2003 I surrendered my clients to a web host from the New England states in the USA. He seemed to be reliable and had also agreed to pay me X dollars and to care for the clients. I would be able to close business at 12/31/2003 - so I thought. I enjoyed my freedom again and did not really miss the web hosting responsibilities.

November and December of 2003 came and several former clients asked for help. The buyer sucked in delivering support and the quality of service had gone downhill. One client asked me straight if I would take him back. After re-evaluating the situation I did not see too much harm by doing that. I had given him my requirements in regards to support and making payments and he had agreed. More clients complained but I was able to have the new web host look after things.

Late December 2003 came and I felt the frustration from the new job creeping up inside me. Very little support from different business units and a weak environment. I did feel that my enthusiasm and my efforts I put in would not pay off and were not enough to make a difference. I think this was the moment of re-birth of Net Services USA LLC. I just had to find a different way of doing things to be really successful. So, I decided not to close the company but to re-evaluate the business model and try again.