Although this is a reseller question I'm not 100% sure if this is the right section to post it. - Anyway...

I'm seriously considering moving to a dedicated server, but at the moment we are only using 20-30 GB bandwidth with our sites. Yet we're growing very quickly, and I'd rather move sooner than later and get used to managing the server, etc. Anyway, with our current numbers, it would definitely be a waste of resources, and a costly one at that...

My problem is that I don't want to open up a webhosting company (too much hassle that has nothing to do with my original goals), but on the other hand the thought to finance the whole thing by taking one or several other sites on board is tempting. Does anyone maybe know of a "light" way to do this, e.g. if it's possible to "rent" part of the bandwidth/webspace to an adserving company?

Thanks!

Well, I was once part of a shared dedicated server with a company once before. The way it worked is we had 5 people and all split the costs. The problem is if one person left, the costs rose unless a replacement is found. And of course, without a contract, there is nothing to stop someone from packing their bags and leaving without notice.

In any case, you might want to try virtual private servers (VPS). I believe you get your own amount of resources along with your own system resources. I think it is a little more costly, but what generally happens on someone elses account does not necessarily happen to you.