I think it is important for domain investors should create some sort of business continuity plan for their domain investments, even if they do not technically operate a business. If something unexpected happens that prevents one of us from operating our business or directing someone else to operate it, some sort of continuity plan would be helpful.

I created what amounts to a business continuity plan in the event something happens to me while I am still operating my businesses. It might not be 100% complete, but I think it would provide some guidance to the people who would be managing my business.

I thought I would share some of the topics that I felt were important for my business continuity plan. Keep in mind this plan is a work in progress – I regularly make revisions and additions as things come up. Importantly, I do not keep confidential or sensitive information in the continuity plan. Things like passwords and private account numbers are kept separate and secured elsewhere.

You are welcome to share some things I may have missed:

Last week, I had what amounts to a billing issue with a company. The bank told me one thing that appeared to blame the company for the issue. I called the company, didn’t get an answer right away, and I quickly escalated the issue to the executive office. I let company President’s administrative assistant know what I thought happened, and I made it clear that I was unhappy and thought there was some sort of ethical lapse.

To make a long story short, the company investigated and it turns out it was a bank issue. For whatever reason, the bank erred in explaining what happened, and when the branch manager called the bank’s call center, the information he received was similar to mine. It took him meeting with a company representative to figure out what happened.

After learning what happened, I apologized to the company for my attitude.

I regularly see people post complaints and sometimes borderline defamatory comments about domain industry companies on forums, in blog comments, on Twitter, on review websites, and various other publications. People get upset (often rightfully), and they fire away to make sure others know about their poor experience. I don’t think this is generally the best approach.

Had I written something online about what I thought happened – which had initially been confirmed