After transferring tens of thousands of subscriptions in my side gig, StripeTransfer.com – which is a service that helps individuals and businesses transfer their Stripe subscriptions from one Stripe account to another – I’ve come across three main reasons this service is needed.
- Going through an acquisition
- Moving to a new country
- Consolidating subscription services
Going through an acquisition can be stressful.
While there have been other reasons I've been asked to migrate or transfer subscriptions in Stripe, these are the top three use cases for the service that I provide. I’d like to take a moment to highlight a few aspects of each of these three use cases.
Going through an acquisition can be stressful. There is a lot of anxiety that comes along with selling a business - not the least of which is maintaining cashflow during the course of the due diligence process and the transaction. Business owners are typically hoping that every part of the process goes perfectly so as not to disrupt the potential sale. I do everything that I can to make sure the business owners, and the acquirers, feel very well taken care of and at ease during this process.
The best time for StripeTransfer to get involved when a company is going through an acquisition is, simply, as early as possible. Typically I can provide a quote for the work that can be used in negotiations for both the buyer and seller. And a fairly accurate timeline can be provided so that all parties have their expectations properly set. Many times both parties are willing to help fund the process.
Moving to a new country almost always forces the business owner to transfer to a new Stripe account. Stripe does not currently allow you to move the ownership of a Stripe account between parties, nor does it allow you to change its primary location from one country to another. So if you're a solo-preneur that wants to switch living locations, a remote team that would like to incorporate in a new country, or a business that got acquired by an entity outside of your country – you will need to move your Stripe account to a brand-new account.
Consolidating subscription services often happens when a business has found itself with a complex or convoluted subscription structure. Perhaps they started out on one platform and moved to another, which resulted in them having some messy customer subscriptions. Or, they offered a wide variety of plans, products, discounts, and payment schedules over several years.
Cleaning up the back office, as it were, can help to reduce customer service tickets, confusion among your customers, and even provide a clearer upgrade path for your current customers. It also makes selling a business much smoother because it makes things easier to understand. Not to mention it is less expensive for me to do my work when things are simple and clear.
I've helped individuals and businesses facing each of these circumstances and others. In every situation, I've been able to move the entire transactional workflow from one country to the other – even switching currencies – without experiencing any interruptions in cashflow. And, if I'm involved early enough, I've been able to avoid any subscriptions signup downtime – to keep the growth curve in tact.
If you are in need of expert help in migrating Stripe accounts, please get in touch.
