Hello everybody,
This is my first post to the forum. I think that the WHT is by far one of the most useful forums I have ever been to. I have spent the last 3 days studing it. You are doing a great job by helping each other. Congratulations! :)
I am planning to start webhosting business offering web hosting and reseller hosting services.
I've been in the area of web for three years now (i am a web developer) so i guess that I know enough to get me started.
I would like to go easy on the beginning as I do not have enough money to invest and I also have a day job. And I have some questions for you :))
1. I believe that the best plan would be to get a virtual dedicated server for me so that I can offer reseller packages. Correct?
2. What happens if I have say 100 customes with my Virtual server at company A and I want to move to a dedicated server with company B? I dont want to trouble my customers with changing their DNS. Will I need to buy my own DNS/IP? How?
3. Is there a cheap,reputable company that can built a web site for me? I tried to visit hostskin.com but the site was down.
4. Is there any chance of hiring a person to take care of the ticketing?
5. What are the chances of succeeding? I am a hard worker, dedicate myself to my plans and I am writting a good business plan. I intent to leave my day job if everything goes well. Am I day dreaming?


Thats all for now, see u soon.

Sorry, for my bad english, it is not my mother tongue
Thanks!

1. Why do you want to offer reseller packages? Offering reseller packages is generally regarded as a "second step" because of all of the support and other hassles associated with them. I would recomend a reseller package for yourself to begin with.

2. Usally customers do not care if you are upgrading to a better server. Shared NS can be changed by you, and downtime will be very little. Reseller's branded NS will have to be changed by them.

3. If you are a developer than why don't you make your own WS, or are you talking about backends? There are a couple open source/inexpensive scripts for automation/backend.

4. Sometimes you can hire people on commision for support and sales, but I recomend doing support by yourself until you get your act together.

5. You can succeed, but it will take hard work and patience.

Also, don't forget about business licenseing. This really depends on your country, though.

Thanks maxdf for your time.
I am quite familiar with the CPanel and webhost manager, so i dont think i will have any problems (hopefully).:D
I am not talking of just upgrading a server. I am talking about moving from one company that offers reseller to a company that offers dedicated. Doesnt the DNS change??
What i meant with developer was that i am a programmer. I know nothing about flash, and very little about photoshop. But I want a site that looks really nice and proffesional. Any ideas?
I will certainly do some support myself but can not do it 24/7. Will I write 24/7 at my website?
Thanks for the tip about the licenseing, but as far as i know there is not specific license about webhosting in my country. So I got a license for 'rental of web services'

misti

DNS does change, that is why you have to change the shared NS and resellers must change thier private NS.

There are plenty of people out there who will do webdesign at a nominal fee.

For licensing I meant as a business. Any person that trades money for a service has to be registered as a business, at least in any country I have heard of.

This is what i meant.
So, can I provide reseller account with a reseller accunt or do i need a dedicated server?
Also, do I get all the support I had as a reseller?

misti

Some places offer there resellers to sell reseller accounts, not many though. You usally need root access to whatever control panel it is on.

I don't understand your second question.

:)
What kind of tech. support do I have with a VPS? Who will do the software upgrades. Me or them?

Thanks

I think VPS servers have tech support for you, not your customers. I think software depends on the provider.

Again, I do not recomend selling reseller accounts to begin with, as there is alot more liability here and it is harder to manage.