One-Person Business Shutdown Checklist: Export, Domain, Customer Data

If your website, domain, or customer list lives on a third-party platform, the shutdown date is the moment to decide what you can carry out. Mozilla announced it is closing Solo, an AI-powered website creation service, and every site, account, and data set will be gone on November 30, 2026, with no recovery afterward.

The deadline matters because the platform holds the pages, images, form replies, and subscriber list that make the business visible, and without an export that memory will be erased.

The durable trick is boring: keep a copy of the things that make the business yours. Start with the files, the domain, and the customer records.

The shutdown turns a backup habit into a deadline

Solo is an AI site builder aimed at individual entrepreneurs, and the closure is not a pause. The export ZIP gives you an HTML version of the site plus a CSV of image links, form replies, and newsletter replies, but it does not include image source files.

The missing source files are the ones that make the site look like yours. Waiting until the end puts the work under pressure, and pressure makes mistakes likely.

The HTML export backs up published pages, but it does not promise one-click editing in another builder. Plan for a rebuild, and budget a few focused sessions.

The five steps that keep the business portable

Use this list before the shutdown, not after. Each step is small enough to finish in a sitting, and each one gives you something you can verify quickly.

• Inventory assets: list the pages, images, submissions, domain, and refund status you expect to keep.
• Export the site: download the ZIP and confirm the contents.
• Fetch source images from the CSV: open the CSV and download each image link before the shutdown.
• Migrate the domain: start the transfer and confirm the contacts.
• Verify customer data and refund: test the replacement site before switching DNS, protect the customer data, and check the refund.

Inventory sounds obvious, but it catches the missing piece. A site can have pages, images, form submissions, and newsletter submissions, and each is a separate thing to save. The domain is the address, not the building, and losing it makes the business harder to find.

Export is the first thing you can verify. Image work is the tedious part, and it is the one people skip. Do it in a folder named for the business, not in a browser downloads pile that disappears.

Domain work is where the platform has the most control. A domain bought through Solo Domains rather than IONOS needs migration to Name.com. For that path, sign in to or open a Name.com account, fill in the Registrant, Administrative, and Technical contact details, then send the Name.com account code to support@soloist.ai. Customers type the domain, so it deserves the most careful handling.

The last step is a customer-data check as much as a technical one. Treat the exported submissions as customer records and protect them with access controls. A spreadsheet on a shared laptop is not a safe place for names, emails, and messages. Put it in a folder with a lock, a password, or a service that gives you access control.

The refund helps, but it does not replace the exit work

For Solo Pro or Grow, the refund is automatic for the unused part of the current billing period, calculated as of October 1, 2026, and it goes back to the original payment method. No new subscription will renew. That money is useful, but it is not a replacement for the site, the domain, or the customer list.

Count the hours, not just the dollars. A refund may cover the software, but it does not cover the time to rebuild the pages, re-upload the images, reconnect the forms, and tell customers where to find you. Keep the list next to the domain login. Do the checklist before the shutdown.