Hiya,

I'm brand new to the hosting biz (n00b if you must ;)) and I would like to start up a hosting biz. I know many of you people have probely heard this many times before but I'd like to know where I can learn about this so I can start up my own biz. I am only 15 years old, going on 16 so I don't have alot of cash, but I'd like to make some ;). Anyways what I'm trying to say here is where can I learn the just of everything about servers, hosting, and starting my own biz. Do you think I could really make money on doing this, or not really? Do I need any special software? DSL, Cable, or better? (cause currently I only have dial up :() Or anything else you can tell me. Everything will be greatly appreciated seeing i'm starting from scratch and know nothing, well close to nothing, I've been running a domain for about 2 years now and it's been going fairly well and I'd just like to expand my horizons :p. BTW I hope you people can understand, seeing I probaly have bad grammer seeing it's past 12:00pm at nite and I gots school tomorrow :o. Well I better get off to bed, but I'll check this topic tomorrow.

Thanks,
M_E_W

Hiya,

I'm brand new to the auto repair biz (n00b if you must :) ) and I would like to start up a auto repair biz. I know many of you people have probely heard this many times before but I'd like to know where I can learn about this so I can start up my own biz. I am only 15 years old, going on 16 so I don't have alot of cash, but I'd like to make some :). Anyways what I'm trying to say here is where can I learn the just of everything about motors, transmissions, troubleshooting, accounting, bookkeeping, customer service, taxes, contracts (oops, I can't form contracts as I'm only 15). Do you think I could really make money doing this, or not really? Do I need any special hardware? Torque wrenches, lifts (would a floorjack do?) I've been driving a car for about 2 years now (don't ask) and it's been going fairly well and I'd just like to expand my horizons. :) BTW I hope you people can understand, seeing I probably have bad grammer seeing it's past 12:00pm at night (oops I mean 12:00pm in the afternoon... or do I mean 12:00am in the morning?) and I gots school tomorrow. Well I better get off to bed, but I'll check this topic tomorrow.

(This is a joke...not meant as a slam at all... it's just that it amazes me how much people underestimate the amount of knowledge you need to have to be successful in this or any business, and this guy doesn't have it.)

haha Travis! ;)

you seem to know alot about Automobiles :)

ever thought about going into the auto-repair industry? :D



Originally posted by Travis
Hiya,

I'm brand new to the auto repair biz (n00b if you must :) ) and I would like to start up a auto repair biz. I know many of you people have probely heard this many times before but I'd like to know where I can learn about this so I can start up my own biz. I am only 15 years old, going on 16 so I don't have alot of cash, but I'd like to make some :). Anyways what I'm trying to say here is where can I learn the just of everything about motors, transmissions, troubleshooting, accounting, bookkeeping, customer service, taxes, contracts (oops, I can't form contracts as I'm only 15). Do you think I could really make money doing this, or not really? Do I need any special hardware? Torque wrenches, lifts (would a floorjack do?) I've been driving a car for about 2 years now (don't ask) and it's been going fairly well and I'd just like to expand my horizons. :) BTW I hope you people can understand, seeing I probably have bad grammer seeing it's past 12:00pm at night (oops I mean 12:00pm in the afternoon... or do I mean 12:00am in the morning?) and I gots school tomorrow. Well I better get off to bed, but I'll check this topic tomorrow.

(This is a joke...not meant as a slam at all... it's just that it amazes me how much people underestimate the amount of knowledge you need to have to be successful in this or any business, and this guy doesn't have it.)

Come on guys, no need to make fun of him, not his fault he's only 15 and has bad grammar :laugh:

Seriously though, if you want to get into this business, you MUST have a sound business plan. If you don't, don't expect to do very well.

As a start-up, I'd recommend you go the reseller route. This way, you won't need much technical knowledge (server wise) and can concentrate on telling your clients to RTFM!! joking ;)

I wouldn't go the server route yet as clearly you don't have the knowledge, or the money to do so.

Do I need any special software? DSL, Cable, or better? (cause currently I only have dial up ) Or anything else you can tell me....

Honestly, IMO, if you're asking this kind of question then maybe this isn't really the kind of business you should pursue :(

Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Hey I am 100% new at this myself.

But I do know this much.

1) You don't learn it overnight.

2) If you like going out with your friends to the movies etc you have chosen the wrong business to be in.

3) If you can't be accessible to a computer 24 hours a day, which you can't as you are in school, then you aren't accessible to your customers 24 hours a day.

4) As someone else said before, unless you have many many customers and can hire help the word Christmas doesn't exist.... The moment you sit down for Christmas dinner your server will crash. :) You can that Mr. Murphy for that. ;)


Well that is about it. Anyone else.....

I am pretty much new to the web hosting business myself, but not new to the internet/computer/web designing arena.

I understand that this business can involve some hard work and dedication, but there is no need to scare off anyone interested in joining the biz. I mean no matter what age you are, you cannot involve yourself in anything for 24 hrs/day. I am not saying that this business doesn't require time and effort, all I am saying is that there are ways to manage this business successfully without overworking yourself. So, if you feel you have the dedication and patience to learn this business inside out, I say go for it, but start small (as a reseller, most likely), then spread your knowledge and grow.

Most of the time, people just want to stay small and continue being a reseller. This is great for people who don't have much knowledge in servers, etc. and who do not have enough time to manage their business.

In conclusion (seems like i'm writing a report, LOL) if you have any interest in having your own web hosting business, than best of luck, but just remember that when you are providing a service to anyone, you should provide this service as you would want this service provided to you.

Thanks.

Sorry if I upset anyone.

That wasn't my intentions. Obviously no one can be sitting in front of their computer 24 hours a day 7 days a week. If you can you are superhuman and I have a couple of favors I need taken care of... ;)

I just didn't want to portray this as an easy business because it isn't. As with any business it takes dedication which means it comes before your personal life. I don't think web hosting should be considered an avenue to easy money.

If someone is sure this is what they want to do, and they have the time and dedication to do it I say go for it. I am...

Michael

Yep, heard this a million times - in fact, I've probably made some of those comments myslef 5 years ago when starting up. I started when I was 24 though, so it was easier to be taken seriously.

It's damn hard work, there is loads of competition out there and thousands (literaly) of young people like yourself trying to do the same thing - hardly any of them make it past the "getting advice stage" and most of them fall flan on their faces in less than a year.

But, I can tell you that I occasionaly use a company by the name of Xela.ltd.uk - a chap who introduced himself to me on a newsgroup when he was barely out of school - I gave him the benefit of the doubt and hosted with him, I've never looked back and at times I often find myself learning from his examples.

The best bet for your right now, with the economy being the way it is, is to volunteer your services to a hosting company as a systems admin/webmaster. Get the experience, learn what you can, read read and read some more. I can't make the last comment any clearer, you have to take your time and read up on every aspect of linux hosting, web design, e-commerce, shopping cart solutions, asp, php, cgi/perl and all that other stuff that even I don't know about yet ;)

Remember you are young, by the time you are 19-20 you'll probably know more about web design and hosting than myself or any of the other oldies on here. You've got the time to learn, we on the other hand are struggling to keep our clients and beat the competition, time to study is hard to find for us.

Lee.

I have just started running a webhosting business myself, and I am 16. However, I have been using linux since the 7th grade and I have been running it on my older desktop as a server for about a year, so I have experience managing users, upgrading daemons, etc. I would highly reccomend that you farmiliarize yourself with linux before you do anything. The last thing you want to have happen is Apache crash and not know how to restart it, or have someone exploit your box and not know how to apply the proper security patches. Perhaps try running a server from your house for a few months and giving away hosting to friends and family members so that you can see what it is like and if you are ready to make that kind of commitment.

I also reccomend that you try to get financial backing from your parents, grandparents, or other relatives (agree to take more time to study, etc). Win them over by making a professional business report with market research and including such things as how you intend to get customers, how long you think it will be before you can be profitable (be burtally honest), and what will happen if your grades start to slide or you cant afford to host the server any more. I also reccomend including a comparison table of your proposed prices versus other companies. Make sure to go over everything that can possibly happen or be important to them.

I would reccomend talking to your local Chamber of Commerece or Small Business Administration, as they probably have some program to simplify the process of starting a business and perhaps grants to help you (I did this and it helped significantly).

You should research your state's tax laws so that you know what taxes you are liable for and what the advantages to filing as a certain type of business are. I am filing as a sole proprieter, which is the easiest thing to do, and in Connecticut there is only one tax I am liable for (web hosting and design are non-taxable).

Yep, i totally agree :)

You're still young, so get some more education into you and get a formal qualification.

As I stated above though (I'm not trying to put you off the idea), you REALLY need to have a sound business plan before you start. I would recommend seeking advice from your local business enterprise or something similar.

If you do decide to take the plunge, go the reseller route. You will learn a lot from this, and it won't break the piggy bank (sorry :stickout ) either.

Good luck, whatever route you choose ;)

I forgot to mention that you must _ALWAYS_ be connected, as in connected to the internet. I have a laptop which I take _everywhere_ and it helps tremendously (I can actually leave the house!). I have a Motorola T900 2Way pager (wireless email/paging) so that I can respond to inquiries. My server is configured such that if HTTPD, FTPD, POP3, or DNS go down, it sends me a page.

M_E_W,

If you are planning to use Linux as an OS, you definitely need a Linux book.

Try being a reseller first and move on from there.

Good Luck! :cool:

For all the people that helped me thanks :), and for those that just make fun of me, don't even try to reply and help with posts for me anymore :O, I just wanted some information, there wasn't need to make fun seeing that you all started new at sometime and just didn't start off genious's. Anyways can someone give me more information about this reseller thing you are talking about, because if seems thats what you say I should get into for starting out.

Sorry if it seemed like I was dissing you ;)

I wholeheartedly recommend going into this business, you won't regret it. I certainly don't.

The point I'm trying to make, and what everyone else is, is that you need to have sufficient knowledge in the area before you dive right in.

Going the reseller route is a big step towards this.

There are several companies that offer reseller accounts. Try running a search in this forum :)

Originally posted by M_E_W
For all the people that helped me thanks :), and for those that just make fun of me, don't even try to reply and help with posts for me anymore :O, I just wanted some information, there wasn't need to make fun seeing that you all started new at sometime and just didn't start off genious's. Anyways can someone give me more information about this reseller thing you are talking about, because if seems thats what you say I should get into for starting out.
Ok thanks.

M_E_W, Travis wasn't making fun of you, he was making a point, a rather good one, and if you entered onto a automotive repair shop forum, and wanted to start up an automotive repair business, I suppose that would be the post you'd have made.

At 15, what makes you want to get into this business or any business? Do you feel as though you are ready for the responsibility, desire no life (sadly often the result of owning a business), have knowledge of the industry, feel you'll be able to market your services to a particular group, etc.?

If you don't have much money, have basically no knowledge of anything hosting related, no business knowledge, no client relation skills, etc., then I suggest you start off reselling and get a job in the real world. Get some basic people skills to start out with. Learn what it takes to please any customer (business doesn't matter, any business) and what it takes to be a needed employee that a company can't do without.

There are many technical things you need to know, but at 15 I'm not so sure that recommending linux books is where I'd start on the road you want to take. Yes, it probably would be helpful to know about cars to fix them, but get out there and enjoy life a bit before you tie yourself to a computer. You will be working for the rest of your life, don't throw away the few years you can get away without working 24 hours a day.

Just my opinion, but if you really want to check things out, I'd read the last 5 pages (*pages* not threads) in each forum (sans the Cobalt one if you know you won't be using them maybe).

MEW, My advise to you is to sit down from friday (Get home from school about 3:30?) Grab some water and junk food, a phone, and fire up your computer. Open up Webhostingtalk.com, this is your new home. Use the search button at the top, and type in any topic you wish, this is arguably the largest base of web hosting knowledge you can find. For the rest of the weekend, you will begin to live the life of a computer junkie. Read, Read, Read. You are allowed 8 hours of sleep per day. Pickup the phone, call for pizza. You will be living off of junk food, as you will have no time to cook. If your mom comes in and asks you to get off the computer, tell her no you have people depending on you. If by sunday night you aren't about to puke and would like to live like this for the coming years, good luck in the future. Otherwise, stick to designing web pages and having computers as just a hobby.

There is just one problem with you starting your own business. To start a business in the USA, and to incorporate a business, you will need to sign an actual state paper, that allows you to conduct business under that business name. You see, if you are not 18, then techincally you cannot sign the papers. Now, there is a way to get around this, by having a parent sign the forms, but then that can get you parents in big trouble financially. If your parents signe the forms, basically it means that they are the responsible President of the company. In the event that something goes wrong, its up to them to do something (say a client sues you or something). Now this is just the extreme, but it could happen one day.

Now, Im not too sure about this, but its worth looking into. Say your parent is layed off, or gets released from his/her job. Since they have signed the forms for your business, they are not allowed unemployment checks from the government because techincally, they have another source of income, the business you have. Correct me if Im wrong, but that was always the impression I got out of it.

Im not trying to turn you away, just trying to point out that you have to be aware of legal and state functions and regulations as well as your techincal knowledge.

Jim

Originally posted by Chicken

If you don't have much money, have basically no knowledge of anything hosting related, no business knowledge, no client relation skills, etc., then I suggest you start off reselling...

:D :D :D LMAO

Reselling is a good idea to begin with. You can make a nice little profit and keep yourself out of legal trouble. A company name is going to be tough for you, if not impossible, so you'll have to work around it from there. It will take the cooperation of your parents to even give you any hopes of giving this a try.

Well, I assume you guys have scared him away, now he won't even dare to post.

Actually I'm not entirely sure scaring people off is such a bad thing. Sure it's great to see young people with the get-go to start their own business, but at the end of the day it's not just their own business they're responsible for. If we were all selling a product all fine and good...

"Lemonade tastes bad? Well, you drank it.. T-S."

Being someone who hosts websites you take on a responsibility role for not only your own business, but every single business that is hosted by your company. If you screw it up, or decide that it's not for you, there are people that will suffer for it. Some smaller businesses base their whole income from what comes in through their websites. Losing that site means they can't pay bills, can't feed their family.. you get the idea.

I think that a lot of people seem to focus a little too hard on what *they* can get out of starting a 'hosting biz' and don't spend quite enough time on thinking of the people who are putting their trust you to keep them online.

Really someone yet to finish school should look at a product based online business such as programming or web design. Ongoing support and attention to detail is a big ask, even for people who live online. Maintaining the connection between a customers site and their income is a resposibility that you should never take for granted.

Greg Moore

I think that jimb definitely had lots of good points.

You can not really start a business being 15 years old.

You'll want to talk to your parents about helping you.

Unless you're going to do business under your name, you will need a DBA/business license or whatever is required in your area.

Also, no one will take you seriously without a merchant account. I still don't get how people get by using paypal and credit card launderers.

And contracts entered into with minors are voidable by the minor unless they're for necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical care for the minor.

But to start a webhosting business, I wouldn't recommend going out and buying computer/networking related books. I'd recommend buying books entiled something like "starting your own small business".

The very first thing you want to do is start a ledger. Get your business license or whatever is required and add that expense to your ledger. Bam, you're in business! :)

1. start ledger
2. buy book
3. write business plan
4. get business license
5. get seperate bank account
6. get merchant account
7. research for an ISP
8. research market
9. proposition customers
10. purchase from ISP
11. resell
12. cross fingers

Aloha
travis that was pretty good ;)

M_E_W ;)
what does that stand for ;)
anyway I am 38 and you have better grammar then me ;)
heheheh
anyway I have been in biz all my life worked a normal job a few times when I had to for legal reasons
anyway
first off get a few good books on business and keeping books etc... maybe a marketing book.
then load up a 2nd HD wqith linux and start to play around and get the hang of it and if you have a static IP try to run it as a server and see if you can get friends to hack into it
dont have anythign on this HD though

that is it in a nutshell

at 15 I woud say first off have fun ;)
my youth went way to fast

for business see if there is a local ISP in town that you can make friends with or get in a comunity college calss fo puters get to know those people network with them
at your age you will make more money later then will be worth it now doing hosting ;)
if you are good with people try to help people out for a few bucks
if you want to get into hosting more power to ya ;)
but take a year adn do it as a hobby then see if ya still like it ;)
if I was your age I would focus on security and how to get really good at securing boxes etc.. hacking into machines etc..
you can make some good money doing this for companies that want secure systems ;)

Ok I'm going to be doing the reseller plan. I won't have to get a bussiness licence for this correct?

Aloha
well yes and no
what country are you in ??
for the US you may have to have a lic you should be able to get a small biz lic if your city requires it
just go down to city hall and ask about it then cal up the state you live in the lic dept and ask about a lic.
also a good palce to start to get the correct phone # is chamber of commerce in your city.
not sure how it is in other countries ??

In the UK, we don't need a business license. If we make over £54,000 year, then we have to pay VAT which is 17.5% tax :(

In most parts of the US if you're not going to do business under your legal name, then you need at least to register the name that your doing business with. Some places you also need a business license.

And taxes? You want to talk about taxes? In the US you pay up to 30% of your profits in federal taxes, then you pay %15 self employment taxes (if you're self employed). Self employment tax is really 7.5% social security tax, but your employer usually pays another 7.5%. But since you're your own employer, you have to pay all of it.

Then there's state tax. Ours is 4%. So let's add those up:

15% + 30% + 4% = 49% of your profit goes toward taxes.

That cuts into your actual profit by quite a bit.

So i'll need a biz licence just for doing reseller plan. Also I'm in the USA.

Well, it is a good idea to get things in order right from the start, as if you try to do this later it can be messy. The age thing is an issue, but one that can be dealt with. The primary reason for getting a business license is often to open a business bank account (most people will tell you that it is a good idea to seperate business from personal when it comes to banking), and around where I live, you can't get a business account without a local business license. Your area may be different for all I know. Seems to be little else than a way for the local gov to get $150 out of you (ish), but as I said, here it is needed.

if you don't want to name your business your actual name, then you'll have to file a D.B.A. (doing business as), which can even be done at your local small newspaper (ever town or area has one). They file the papers and print it up in the paper for 3 weeks, you get the clip back, take it to the town hall and apply for the license. Not a big deal.

Aloha
M_E_W
do as Chicken said
also if you are in High School ya should get ahold of the business teacher and talk to him maybe you can get this going adn get credit for it at the same time ;)
sure teachers in School would love to see this kind of stuff going on ;)

One thing is that they wont allow you to sign the business lic if your under age....and they wont give you a merchant account or a bank account. This is something you and your parents must do together. Also, you will need to get some sort of payment schedual workout. Techincally, if you are 15 you have to have a work permit to work for that company. You will need one of those from the local city hall as well. At 15, you can only work a certain number of hours during a week, meaning that you will also have a problem with running the business.

You and your parents are going to have to straighten that out too. You may be able to just over ride it by having your money slide under the table...but if you get caught, your in big trouble.

Just a few other things you need to be aware of....

Jim

Originally posted by bitserve
In most parts of the US if you're not going to do business under your legal name, then you need at least to register the name that your doing business with. Some places you also need a business license.

And taxes? You want to talk about taxes? In the US you pay up to 30% of your profits in federal taxes, then you pay %15 self employment taxes (if you're self employed). Self employment tax is really 7.5% social security tax, but your employer usually pays another 7.5%. But since you're your own employer, you have to pay all of it.

Then there's state tax. Ours is 4%. So let's add those up:

15% + 30% + 4% = 49% of your profit goes toward taxes.

That cuts into your actual profit by quite a bit.


Holy @#$% 49%? Damn Time to raise the prices!

What turns everybody on, to want to go into webhosting?

Webhosting seems to be the number 1 idea on lists of new ventures to start, but I wonder where webhosting will be in 5 or 10 years time?

As it is, there are too many hosts out there and the return is not great (what return?).

I wouldn't classify webhosting as a business. If I had to compare the difference between webhosting and being in prison, I don't think there is one. I've never been in prison, so I might be wrong.

With regards to age, starting out young might seem great now, as at least when you finish school, you'll already be working and not have to worry about finding a job, provided everything works out smoothly, BUT I can assure you that you will eventually start losing base with your friends and...

Don't get me wrong, there are advantages to this biz and you'll also find that the people in the webhosting biz are great extra-ordinary people.

vB code, insert meta tags: no life, no sleep, no money, hard work