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Ask HN: One Person SaaS Biz – What Happens If I Die?

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Ask HN: One Person SaaS Biz – What Happens If I Die?

#1

Post by msinca »

I'm 50 and run a small (but moderately successful) one-person SAAS business with yearly revenues > $120K. Like any business, I have various bank accounts, cloud accounts, API accounts, Stripe, credit cards, business registrations, email services, etc... that pretty much only I know about to make things work. I also have my entire codebase of my site (happens to be ASP.NET CORE C#) along with Git, DB Logins, Google Analytics, DNS, etc..etc... Finally, there is the workflow that is required to run the site - various little tasks need to be done each day, customer service responses, etc...

I really only need to put in a couple hours per day at the job but it doesn't make enough money to hire a 2nd person at the moment.

So...what if I died tomorrow? (hypothetically, of course)

My wife has a career of her own and is not technologically savvy enough to run my business.

I see 2 options:

1. Wind It Down: Some sort of documentation on all the services/accounts that need to be closed. But this can be tricky for non-techies (ex. just try to cancel an Azure account with various services/subscriptions)

2. Transition/Succession to another person. But who would have the various skills to take over my job? The knowledge base is so specific and, as I said, it won't really support another person at the moment.

My question is this: How do other single person (or very small team) companies deal with planning for the death of a founder? Are their any companies, sites, services that can help in this transition (even just to Wind It Down)?

Re: Ask HN: One Person SaaS Biz – What Happens If I Die?

#2

Post by Hackbraten »

> But this can be tricky for non-techies

Document the process.

Identify the accounts that absolutely need to be cancelled. Start with those, then work your way down the list.

Make a dry run of the cancellation process and write down the steps, taking screenshots as you go. Print it out and store it in a safe place (especially if passwords are involved).

Make arrangements so your family can access your passwords after you’ve passed away. You can write them down in the same document or store them separately.

Review the document every five years and update the parts that have changed.

Your loved ones are going to be grieving already. They’re likely to appreciate not having to figure out stuff the hard way; their grief is going to be painful enough.

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