I am thinking about parting from those whom I work with now and go on my own hosting venture with a couple friends of mine. Not talking about legal documentation, etc. but the resource part of the choice. We are thinking about going with a couple resellers and gradually upgrade each one into a ded when we can.

[Q]: Is this a good choice or should be just skip the couple resellers and jump to a ded?


[Note]: I am asking for the ups and downs of this decision, not criticism. If you are posting and it is nothing but criticism, I am just going to disregard your post for you are not wanted here.

Thanks to those whom help me out.

-TC

I think it would depend completely on your knowledge of server management. Are you capable of maintaining a server 24/7? If not, getting into a good reseller program may be the ticket while you're learning the ins and outs of server management/hosting.

Many will suggest starting with reseller, but I say if you are capable of maintaining a dedicated server go with a dedicated. Because you will have full control of the server, and there are many other advantages.

~Jonathan

and budget is another factor to weight in. If you have money to invest out, I would say go with dedicate since many provider nowadays do offer full managed. You can learn from them.

I was in your boat a while back.

I started a webhosting firm (name to remain anonymous) with a partner and 1 year later decided to part from my partner and the company simply because there were things I wanted to, deals I wanted to make, changes I felt were good for the company while he didn't want to.

Therefore, I went solo. At first I started up with a reseller plan, but after realizing that eventually I would need to make the transition to my own dedicated server and such... I sat down and asked myself "Can I Really Be Successful as a webhosting firm?". felt that I could, therefore I invested money, got my own dedicated server, got ModernBill, my own P.O. Box, merchant account, business account and such.

I have 2 other people helping me part-time.

I haven't opened yet but already have 20 or so clients.

The question you need to ask yourself is "will i make it if I go all out?"

Most likely you'll never know if you try.

Yes.. I agree.. go for dedicated. Providing you can afford it, that is... that way you have full control over the server ;)

Just my input
Cheers
Darren

Lovely feedback :D Unfortunately my friends and I have no knowledge in running a server, but I hope to to look into it during spare time for when the time of the dedicated server comes into play.. I am ready for it. I am kind of more set with the reseller ideas more than jumping in ahead with a ded. I have a reseller already, now it's the fun part for them to get one or maybe I can request free resellers in exchange for our services. I dunno, I will work something out. If anyone wishes to contribute/be an affiliate/etc. with us, let me know and we can talk it over. Good day and once again, thanks! :D

In that case, I'd go with a resellers account from a good company. (Make sure you do your homework on that one). If you have the cash right now, get an el cheapo dedicated server to play with. They can be had for $49/month in some places. Load up all the software you are going to use and offer 10 free accounts to members of these boards. (Make sure you tell them it is for a test server).

Keep the dedicated server untill you need it, then when you are about to transfer your clients over, cancel the $49 server and get a good dedicated server from a different company ;).

There is room to 'learn as you go' but it is always best to know the basics before you are in a mission critical situation. Buy some books on unix and setup your old 486 with redhat and experiment with it. And last but not least, if you have a specific question about webhosting... use the search tool on these forums. Chances are if you have a question, others in the past have had that same question and have asked it here.

Managing the serve is only one part of really running a hosting business.

If you are operating a business you also need to have the backend stuff done first. How do you handle billing and account setup? What type of client support am I putting in place. How am I going to market this?

The bigest mistake people make when they start in this business is they go get a cheap server and start marketing it without all the stuff they need in place to offer quality service and support.

Your going to need the marketing, bookkeeping, support desk and the control panels fully learned.

I would sugget you start with a resellers program and learn all the backend and marketing stuff first. Let someone else manage the server. You will know when you need to upgrade to a dedicated.

start with reseller account, and get 1 or 2 old boxes with OS ( Linux) and place them at your home to learn, offcourse if you are familiar with Sys Administration, then forget first two steps and get a dedicated right now.

Start of with a Reseller Account.
Most hosts provide you the anonymous nameservers
that will help you mask if you do not have servers.
Try to search the entire internet for Linux or Unix
manuals/documents and read up on them before taking the plunge into dedicated servers. If you want to run Windows server, then you probably will learn that quicker.

As mentioned, getting a home computer to play with *nix on is benificial aswell

Proividing you got a computer to play with unlike me :( but o well

try on an old computer liek they all said ;)

Go buy a reseller account and a linux book, by the time you are finished learning basic linux you can feel comfortable in your growth because you know that you can confidently expand.

I'll have to look into purchasing an older box with unix or linux otherwise I will just have to install it on there since I do not currently have one.

As for what 'mgphoto' was asking:

#Billing&Account Setup
--That is not setup yet, we're still doing our hw on that. We have our minds set on 3 possible solutions. (PHPManager, WHNBilling or ModernBill)

#Client Support
--We will be installing a forum and using a helpdesk program (like perldesk), live chat if possible (aim, icq, phone, live chat program), etc.

#Marketing
--I don't know if I should put out the strategies, but here's a rough idea: Forums, Email (upon request/interest), Offline


Thanks to all whom have contributed in giving me feedback on this topic. :D

If you're going to get Modernbill, get a merchant account (you'll need a business account first).

Don't sign up with a 3rd processing company, it's not worth the hassle and headaches.