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Innovative New Program Provides Support
If something seems too good to be true than it probably is. But there are exceptions, especially when the principal players are a scrappy ISP owner and visp.net’s sheer will to help customers succeed.
Houston-based Flex.Net Owner Allan McLendon was startled by visp.net’s financial creativity when he contacted the virtual wholesale ISP. Keep in mind that he’d pretty much given up the ongoing fight against a local telecommunications company - which seemed determined to shut him down.
“In the beginning, I thought the Business Development Fund (BDF) had to be repaid,” said McLendon, who offers Web hosting and serves 400 dial-up subscribers. “Then visp.net explained to me that the money is more like a grant.”
The Criteria for Business Development Fund
Though not in the business of lending money or providing free services, visp.net has set aside the Business Development Fund. Issued on a case-by-case basis, BDFs can be offered toward customers who have a working business model but lack the funds to carry the plan out.
“By providing Flex.Net financial assistance, we were able to save a decade of investment in the Flex.net brand,” said Todd Grannis, visp.net CEO. “Subscribers got to keep their email accounts and we gained a loyal customer.”
Under the constant stress of trying to run a business and having it slip from his grasp, McLendon had run out of options.
After negotiating a contract, visp.net agreed to pay one of its uplink providers to keep Flex.Net open during the migration. “It’s amazing, they turned us around in three days,” McLendon said. “Talk about a win-win deal.”
When McLendon moved to visp.net his reach expanded dramatically. visp.net infrastructure boasts dial-up (more than 60,000 local numbers), as well as providing the nation’s largest wholesale DSL footprint. “I wish I would have found visp.net about three years ago,” McLendon said. “They give us the ability to compete with every other ISP in the country.”
Flex.Net’s Woes All Too Common
Though the innovative solution to Flex.Net’s bumpy ride is remarkable, the pressure-cooker of day-to-day ISP management isn’t that unusual.
Founded in 1995, Flex.Net previously maintained 15 servers and circuits from a local telecommunications company. That arrangement worked for several years, but when the market changed profits slipped.
“We didn’t have our own equipment; it was like buying from the phone company,” McLendon said. “Dial-up was evaporating and pretty soon we owed the telecom leasing company. We were being threatened with having our service cut off and losing the majority of our customers.”
This frustrating dynamic was made even worse by the fact that Flex.Net consisted of Allan McLendon. Period. His staff had, by attrition, fallen from 10 workers to zero. Now he served as CEO, IT wizard, bookkeeper and customer service manager. “As the little guy all you can do is try and keep things going,” McLendon said. “I could barely keep my doors open, much less think about marketing or focusing on growth.”
McLendon is taking advantage of visp.net’s exclusive ISP in-a-box™ virtual ISP technology. The turnkey ISP software solution gives Flex.Net the tools they need to run a feature-rich, low-overhead service. McLendon gets an easy-to-use, Java-based application through which they can activate, manage, and bill their subscriber accounts.
“The complete ISP in-a-box™ solution has reduced my overhead, billing and technical support,” McLendon said. “It gives you the ability to grow your company instead of just fighting to stay alive.”
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