After a while of being hosted, I feel im ready to take the dive into offering hosting services. I was just wondering what advice the WHT community could give me on it.

I know there isn't a lot of money to be made in it at first, and I know it isn't quick cash. Im just wondering about things like:

1)Should I go Reseller, VDS/VPS, or get a small dedicated server?
2)What is the best control (in terms of user friendly) to offer my clients?
3)What are some good ways to get my site/companies name out there?
4)What are some of the more stable, long term companies I can/should go with?
4)anything else you can think of ;)

I know how to manage a server, and I have some cash to spend (I'm thinking maybe I should go VPS/VDS), but just wanted to see what advice you guys could give me :)

Thanks in advance for your advice, xAngel

Moved to running a webhosting business.

Oh sorry, :) thanks

My advice would be to first research your customer possibilities. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of companies - what will make YOU different from THEM?

If you're planning on doing this the right way - expect to spend anywhere between $500 to upwards of $2K to get started - it's not as easy as it looks.

Wow, really that much ? I've looked into some of what you said, but what would you spend that much on?

The VPS or Dedicated server option would be great as they do offer you with more options to provide and room to grow. It is probably easier to move from VPS to Dedicated when the time comes as compared to Reseller to VPS or Dedicated.

As for control panels, the most popular for the end-users would be Cpanel hands-on. Not the most secure or easiest to configure on the server end but you have to give what the customer ask for.

To get your name out would involve advertisement. First thing to do would be to add a signature to all your emails, newsgroup postings and forum postings. It is a non-intrusive means of advertising, sort of a soft-sell method. Then there is this thing about approaching local businesses and hosting for them. Being new, it is hard to gain trust with someone you know nothing about and worst still, do not see. So working with real people would give them that sense of security especially if those people grew up with you and know who you are. Print namecards and distribute them during business conferences, merchant association meetings, friends and so on. If you can sponsor a local event by putting them on the web in exchange for a mention in their newsletter, local newspapers, flyers or banners it would be great too.

As for companies to go for, well, there is a thread about the best VPS, you could use that for reference. http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=237204

If you're going to be starting your business in the US as an LLC, expect to pay about $75-$300 in filing fees depending on your state - and that's if you do it yourself. If you have a lawyer do it, it'll be twice the cost or more.

If you get a merchant account - you might pay a small setup fee, otherwise usually your first couple months will be around $25 to just have the merchant account. If you use a 3rd party processor (like 2checkout.com), there will probably be about a $50 setup fee. If you decide to go the paypal route - it'll cost you nothing to signup, but you won't look as professional as many of your competitors (again, ask yourself "what makes you different?").

Billing system: How will you be handling your customers? If you use something like WHMAutopilot, or modernbill - it's not free.

Reseller accounts aren't free either. Dedicated servers and vds/vps cost you more.

And the biggest cost when you get started is your advertising cost......

....that's just to name a few...

Advertising alone , not to mention software, servers, support staff.

The one thing i have noticed itis always $100 here and $100 there.

It can get quite exspensive.

I would recommend starting with a small reseller account and start learning and grow as you go.


Good luck

Hi xAngel :)

In my opinion you should start of as a Reseller it's takes a lot of Promoting to get into that business. As a Reseller you can invest your cash into advertiseing.

If you are starting out on your own and not taking a salary and only hiring when the business grows to a point that you cannot support it on your own then the ballpark figure would be to allocate between $6 to $24k to jumpstart the business. Sales will not happen right away and you should be prepared to be in the red for between 3 to 12 months before the business can be self-sufficient.

hmm, all valid and amazing advice. Some of It, I really hadn't considered. Its late, ill sleep on it and see what more of you guys have to say tomarrow.

Thanks everyone :)

:topic: You remind me of another company Angel Networks :D. I was suprised to see your post about getting into offering hosting but then I came to know that you must be another person :D

Good Luck...I would recommend starting out small and going from there ;)

hehe no problem BVS, and thanks for the advice. I guess starting small would be the best way to go. I do have some knowledge of hosting (nothing on this level, but some), but I don't think I really want to start out with a reseller account.

From what I've read, you can't offer reseller accounts and other features with a reseller account. I would like to offer all available services that standard host offer. :) So with that, would a small VDS/VPS be the way to go ?

Yup, a VDS/VPS would be the way to go if you want to offer reseller's account. Make sure that the one you signed up with allows you to scale up or down as and when needed.

It does sound like you would be better off with a VPS. You could offer Reseller accounts with a VPS whereas with a Reseller account you would not be able to.

While you do need money to get started I'm not sure that you need very much. There are a few things you will need to do before you really get started. Keep in mind that web hosting is a business driven by service. Your clients for the most part will want and (at times) need support. You'll need to provide that when they need it. Keep your clients well informed with everything that can affect them.

Now here are a few suggestions;

1) Accounting:

First thing you need to do is to see an Accountant and formulate a realistic business plan. You have to remain legal and you have to know what you're getting into. You don't need to go INC or LLC right off. You can go Sole Proprietorship and then change structure later as finances permit. You can register a DBA (Doing Business As) for $50.00 where I am. Your Accountant will also be able to tell you the advantages and disadvantages of going Sole Proprietorship and what it would take for you to change structures later.

2) Server

Take your time in selecting a datacenter. Cheaper is almost never better when it comes to reliability. Make sure you find a place your comfortable with. I can suggest ServInt for VPS; they are managed and will be a big benefit for you in getting started.


3) Client Management and Billing:

Billing;
There are many ways to accept payments online. The easiest way would be to use a 3rd party Gateway like 2Checkout. You can get an account there for a $50 setup and start taking charges right away. Personally I would suggest you go straight to a Merchant Account. You can get one from CDG Commerce for $0 set up fee and a small monthly fee. The Credit Card rates are lower and you can use CDG's own interface to handle recurring transactions. It's simple and effective without a lot of headaches.

Client Management:
There are tons of solutions for Client Management. My suggestion would be to avoid them all until you have 20-30 paying clients. Until you can start to see what type of clients you target and what they want, you really won't have the best idea of what to get. You can use Excel or Access to manage your clients until you do get some Client Management software.

4) Advertising:

Online:
I would avoid online advertising at first.

Offline:
This is the area I would focus on for several reasons. First all your support requests will be coming in your time zone. This will ease the burden of providing 24/7 support for a while, at least until you get some revenue coming in. Here are a few advertising suggestions;

1) Make up some flyers and post them at the Post Office, Supermarkets and any other public bulletin boards you know of.
2) Contact some churches in your area, offer them free hosting for a credit line in their bulletin.
3) Friends and family need hosting too, talk to them as well.


These steps can provide you with a decent start. Now once you get some clients that are paying the bills you can start expanding into online advertising, Client Management software and other various areas.

Good luck with your new venture!

MAAAN, you've got your stuff figured out huh? I'm definitly taking that information in :) Thanks....


I've heard about some software called NIXT, it interacts with paypal and 2checkout. any recommendations on that?

hello
can i ask a easy question
because i am a newer
what is VDS/VPS ?

thx

VDS - Virtual Dedicated Server
VPS - Virtual Private Server

The term VDS can be quite misleading and at times referred to a very huge shared hosting account with no root access and at times being used interchageably with the term VPS.

VPS is shared hosting with a difference. Imagine a server sliced up into different individual parts such with its own operating system, own space, one slice of the CPU and other system resources. You have root access and you can reboot your vps anytime you want or run any scripts without affecting or being affected by others on the same machine.

Couldn't of explained it better myself :)