For the smaller web hosting providers, is running your business like a full time job in terms of salery? Do you have a second job? Do you use your profit to support yourself or is it just for fun?
Thanks.

I don't need the income; so I don't promote it much.
Although I've been considerring going more full time lately.
So, to answer your question . . . . I don't rely on it to support myself.

I am a student here in chicago. My major is MIS.

I do seem to do this full time, I mean it has paid for school.

I also have other things also, directory, and what not, so its not just this

Joe

i begin hosting as hobbie. then as part time, then as full time, now i have very big client base. this business is good. but you need to be honest and dedicated towards this business. honesty works. cheers. :cartman:

It is definitely part time right now. At the rate we are growing though, by the end of next year it will replace 1/2 of our family income. Give it another year after that and it will be full time, having totally replaced our "day" jobs income.

In real estate, they say the secret to sucess is "Location, location, location." In most any other business, true long lasting success comes from "Service, service, service." - but only if it's above average service.

By doing this part time, I don't need to do much advertising because lots of signups means full time whether you have the time or not. We're growing steadily, at a pace we can handle although some months we get months worth of new customers all in 2 days. That strains my time. I'm up front on our web site and in dealings with customers - I work full time at a day job so support can suffer some (my job is very flexible on how I spend my time). They know that I will always do my best and work hard for them. They know they're important to me. In my first year in business (just starting 2nd), I lost only 2 customers because they were unhappy - both of those were resold accounts and the host went crappy on me.

It is a great business to be in for the right kind of person. I love it!

If you're gonna start a hosting biz you have to be dedicated towards your clients. You just cannot open a host and give no customer support at all. Thats where newbies go wrong, they open a host and all but forget one main thing... customer support.
Whatever you do dont become another ***** ;)

Regards,

Asher.

I actually have been doing hosting on a small scale for about the last 3 years. Then I was laid off from my "real job" and just starting my MDU Web business. I'm actually using the web hosting business to supplement some of my income that I lost with the lay off, while I further expand my Internet services.

Originally posted by ranitidine
For the smaller web hosting providers, is running your business like a full time job in terms of salery? Do you have a second job? Do you use your profit to support yourself or is it just for fun?
Thanks.

Seems to me that Ranitidine really asked two questions here - is it a full-time job, and is it a full time job in terms of salary.

From my perspective - it's about the equivalent of two full-time jobs (I typically work 60 to 70 hours per week), but the pay is less than I'd be earning working for someone else.

But that being said, I love working for myself - even with the long hours and the tremendous frustration of running a small business, I couldn't imagine going back to the 9-to-5 8x8 cubicle world. Just couldn't do it, even though I'd make probably twice what I make now.

Jason

Our hosting is a side business. In all honesty we only use it to pay for the dedicated server I rent...

Full time job for me. Pays the bills - but only recently, it's been a hard up hill climb and theres still no sight of the 'summit'

Eladesor.

hmm.. I'm a bored housewife.
I don't actually make money at all &
don't want to: just happie to be occupied ;)