In a time where everything is online, few things are more important to a company than a domain name. Your domain is not only how customers can find you, it is your brand. Lose of a domain can be costly to you and confusing to your customers. http://tinyurl.com/hgy3b3x
Once you have lost rights to a domain name, it is up for purchase by anyone. Since this domain has been long associated with your business, many may not realized that they are no longer dealing with you when the site is redirected to the new owners. At this point, you must notify all of you customers of the domain change or purchase the name back from the new owner.
This can be very expensive. Google accidently sold their domain name for $12 during September 2015. They quickly realized the mistake and cancelled the order but they still ended up paying more than $10,000 to get it back. While some may want your domain because of a similar company name, others purchased newly released domains and hold them for ransom. Valuable domains can be held for millions of dollars.
Even if you use a hosting company for various things, responsibility of renewing a domain name will often fall to you. Make calendar reminders in advance of renewal dates, have more than one individual aware of renewals and renew for multiple years at a time. Protect your investment. Protect your domain.
