When it just seems that nothing is going right for you do wish you could just give it all in and get a normal job? Web hosting can be very stressfull when things dont go right and sometimes i just wish i had went to uni like everyone else. Allthough when everything is running smoothly its great.

Anyone else feel the same way?

P.S No im not going to to stop splash host, unless of course someone wants to give me $50,000 :stickout

I FEEL THE EXACT SAME WAY! I'm looking for a dedicated server right now. I have tons and tons of people to signup but I need the server.

My partner and I talk about quitting about every other week.

We've been doing this for two years, though, and put a lot of money into growing. So we always manage to pull ourselves through. It's like we've given too much to quit now. And sometimes we feel encouraged because we've really grown a lot.

But, yeah, we sometimes want to just flush it down the toilet.

who is running your serveR?

Originally posted by optix
I FEEL THE EXACT SAME WAY! I'm looking for a dedicated server right now. I have tons and tons of people to signup but I need the server.

I just don't see any connection about what you are saying and what Alan is trying to say ... Perharps it's just me ...

cheers,
:beer:

there is connection. i'm tired of looking for hosts and switching every couple of months. its pathetic. i need a dedicated host.

Maybe you misunderstood the thread topic. SplashHost is saying that there are times he (as a host), would like to have takn a different path if you will, and would have rather of gotten a normal job instead of becoming a host.

You, on the other had, are tired of being a reseller and want more control over the situation. Not exactly the same topic :D

I think I might have some mental issues going, but I just love my job! I don't know, I love the challenges & everything involved in this business. Its been quite a learning experience for me and my partner. I wouldn't give it up for a million dollars!

Edit: I even love the 20 hour work days, 7 days a week.. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact im married? :P

You'll feel this way sometimes no matter what you do. Trust me on this one. As long as the good outweighs the bad overall, then you know you're doing okay.

Hang in there.

and how do you define/know what's good and bad for you? ;)

cheers,
:beer:

Originally posted by dektong
and how do you define/know what's good and bad for you? ;)


Don't be obnoxious. When it's right, you know it. Okay?

Alchiba, as wonderful your suggestion might be, you haven't given Alan any hint :) If he knows what is good/bad for him now or in the future, then he won't even bother to start this thread ... ;)

cheers,
:beer:

You know its right when:

You dont need to work hard
Your making lots of cash
Your happy

You know its not right when.. like me
Your working 16 hours a day
Your stressed all day
Your not making much money
You havent been outside for a month

I go though it every other day

on a daily basis

1. wake up at 10am
2. go to sleep at 4am
3. answer at least 100 new emails a day
4. close out my tickets allocated to me
5. work on server issues
6. find high resource sites
7. from 4:01am to 9:59am, i got 4 human monitors that if a server goes down, they call my house, so i had to lug myself out of bed, and go check it out
8. If they dont call, my computer does (even sooner usually within 10 minutes)

Then to top it off, I cant be away from the computer longer then 3 hours because i live in fear that something may crash or run out of control

Thats why I live each day dreaming of HostGUI as all the features they speak of, morely how each script / user will have caps that can be set so scripts etc cant run out of control.....

Then comes a day when everything seems to fix itself...servers are running top knotch, a full nights sleep, time with my daughter...no emails to answer....then i think gezz. maybe i shouldnt get out of this ..... then comes next week or the week after.... and everything happens all over again

Originally posted by dektong
Alchiba, as wonderful your suggestion might be, you haven't given Alan any hint :) If he knows what is good/bad for him now or in the future, then he won't even bother to start this thread ... ;)


If I were to hand out all the answers, then what would happen to man's quest for knowledge? ;)

But more to the point: What's good or bad for one person is not necessarily applicable to the next. You must find your own way, your own peace.

For me, the most important thing in this world is the comfort, safety and love of my familiy. I'll do whatever it takes to acheive that. I know Alan is much younger than I am, so his priorities are somewhat different. I'd be foolish and presumptuous to think his values are equivalent to mine. Hence, my broad statement is intended to make one think on his own rather than preach.

Unfortunately, life does not come with documentation.

A good moment is in the morning looking at how many people signed up during the night.

A bad moment is when I look at the expenses vs income and wonder what's the point of it all.

Originally posted by SplashHost.com
You know its right when:

You dont need to work hard
Your making lots of cash
Your happy

You know its not right when.. like me
Your working 16 hours a day
Your stressed all day
Your not making much money
You havent been outside for a month

So. . . what's your point?

Welcome to the real world! :)

I go through the same thing.. Some days you just feel like saying "F**K THIS!!! I am so sick of this crap... Then you feel like melting and that you are working for so cheap.. Happens ocasionally.. However, I know that once I resolve all the support issues then I feel so great at the end..

Don't you guys notice there is always SOMETHING wrong all the time?

Whether its email not working for someone, or a customer complains about duplicate billings, something broken, customer wants to install modules, their homepage is gone off the face off the earth and you don't know why??, etc..etc.. The list keeps going and going! TOTAL MELTDOWN!!!

Even with staff, it is still a pain in the ass because as their CEO you have to direct them on how to accomplish certain things.. It can suck! Yet, the moment you login to your billing module and see "Total Client Packages: $$$$$" you say to yourself.. Hmm, maybe it's worth it afterall.. Then after all your hardwork you get emails from customers saying "Gee, thanks your the best host, etc.etc". That's when you know the whole thing's worth while.. :)

BTW: I would like to say that a huge contributing factor of our misery is nothing other than CPANEL/WHM, which in a way has helped a lot of hosts start out/manage their server, yet in another way has CREATED a lot of stress/problems. HostGUI is something I look forward to utilizing and hopefully use to lessen the miserable life we have with WHM/CPANEL.

Interesting that Alan posted about that. I was complaining about a bunch of stuff to him today and probably contributing to his stress. Sorry Alan but when my customers bitch at me about the server being slow because of high CPU load I have to bitch at you because you are the one that maintains it. Its also been down for a few hours tonight. All sites are down! :bawling:

Originally posted by SplashHost.com
You know its not right when.. like me
Your working 16 hours a day
Your stressed all day
Your not making much money
You havent been outside for a month

I never realized there was another university graduate student here. ;)

(hmm, on second thought, "not making much money" should be "not making any money" for a graduate student...)

I feel your pain... I was running several dedicated servers WHILE developing dynamic websites (at the same time) couple years ago, and my life was a misery when the server started to give problems, and to top it all, two of them got hacked and crashed.

Co-location wasn't working for us. We had to host locally to reduce the headache of troubleshooting the server only via internet. [We hosted with 9netave which later bought by concentric which later bought by XO.com. Now the original site/pricing/plan is no longer available, and XO.com is on the brink of chap 11/7]

Unfortunately, the past couple years, local DSL providers were going bancrupt one by one, and cable wasn't doing very well either now that they don't give out static IP anymore, blocks port 80 while scapegoating code-red etc, and reliability is out of the question.

Now, I only focus on web development, and even outsource many aspects of it.
Time seems to worth more doing things right, than trying to save money by doing everything on your own.

But, you'd better not quit, Alan, coz, I'm relying on you to take care of the server, or I'll be much more stressful than you having to switch host, again, right when I'm starting to like your service!!

Originally posted by SplashHost.com
When it just seems that nothing is going right for you do wish you could just give it all in and get a normal job? Web hosting can be very stressfull when things dont go right and sometimes i just wish i had went to uni like everyone else. Allthough when everything is running smoothly its great.

Anyone else feel the same way?

P.S No im not going to to stop splash host, unless of course someone wants to give me $50,000 :stickout

I looked at your web site and prices and I think I may know why you are not as motivated.. you see, probably 90% of your customers sign up for the $58 p/year plan which gives them pretty much all they need.. what do I mean?

I mean when you have prices that low, you get lots of accounts but you probably make less profit than everyone else. You find yourself making less profit and doing support all day..

my advice... trash your company and start a new one with smarter pricing.. but I doubt you'll do that :)

Actually you got it wrong, 90% of my customers sign up for the $30/month bronze reseller plan.

Originally posted by SplashHost.com
When it just seems that nothing is going right for you do wish you could just give it all in and get a normal job? Web hosting can be very stressfull when things dont go right and sometimes i just wish i had went to uni like everyone else. Allthough when everything is running smoothly its great....

Anyone else feel the same way?



Frustration is inherent in every job situation. If its any consolation, I have threatened to quit every day for 5 years, and am still here ..LOL. In the end, it boils down to your original motivation for the chosen profession. It doesnt matter whether you went to Uni or not. (I did..left law practice for this wonderful IT world) If you LOVE your job, frustration and all, then stick it out. Just develop your own technique for handling the situation...making it more bearable. Erm..(not alcohol or drugs.. :D You break way too many servers when you are drunk.)
Every once in a while UNPLUG, and go do something fun. Trust me..those servers will still be there, those customers will still be happy or unhappy, after a movie, a game
of CS or whatever grabs your fancy. To get off my mummy podium: Never do it alone, find a mentor, be a mentor, join a forum, join irc :) better to share your frustrations with those who feel it than show a customer what you trully feel :)

Originally posted by AlaskanWolf
I go though it every other day

on a daily basis

1. wake up at 10am
2. go to sleep at 4am
3. answer at least 100 new emails a day
4. close out my tickets allocated to me
5. work on server issues
6. find high resource sites
7. from 4:01am to 9:59am, i got 4 human monitors that if a server goes down, they call my house, so i had to lug myself out of bed, and go check it out
8. If they dont call, my computer does (even sooner usually within 10 minutes)

Then to top it off, I cant be away from the computer longer then 3 hours because i live in fear that something may crash or run out of control

Thats why I live each day dreaming of HostGUI as all the features they speak of, morely how each script / user will have caps that can be set so scripts etc cant run out of control.....

Then comes a day when everything seems to fix itself...servers are running top knotch, a full nights sleep, time with my daughter...no emails to answer....then i think gezz. maybe i shouldnt get out of this ..... then comes next week or the week after.... and everything happens all over again

I swear to god - no exageration or embellishment...you have just described my life EXACTLY. Right down to the "get up at 10 am and go to sleep at 4 am".

When I read your post, I said "HOLY CRAP!" - and made my husband (who thinks I'm a work-a-holic) read this. :)

--Tina

Originally posted by SplashHost.com
Actually you got it wrong, 90% of my customers sign up for the $30/month bronze reseller plan.

Again, look at what you're offering for $30 p/mo:

Host 60 Domains
1000mb Space
12gb Data Transfer
$30/month

You could/should easily be charging a lot more for that!

Originally posted by AffordableHost
...who thinks I'm a work-a-holic ...
Can i join this club? :D

Originally posted by alchiba

Unfortunately, life does not come with documentation.


maybe you should look harder ;)

You guys sleep :eek:

It's not so bad. I get to sit in front of a computer all day. I have all the coffee I can drink. I get to play online. I communicate with people all day long, and help them out with issues they have. Most respond positively and thank me for doing a job I enjoy anyway. I make a good living. My bills are paid, and I have plenty left over to buy some toys here and there...

.. I also remember having a real job. Years ago I worked in an industrial laundry. 8am every morning I was elbow deep in 'soiled' hospital linen (yes folks, blood, vomit, and everything else you could squeeze out of the human body). I had the pleasure of getting minimum wage for it too.

If you're smart about keeping on top of things as they come up, this isn't a hard job (hosting). Keeping the servers humming, keeping the customers happy, and working for a realistic amount of money keeps a smile on my face. It also helps to take a reality check once in a while, and remember it's not so bad after all.

Got stress? Get off your backside and take a quick walk around the room. Sit down, count to 5, then start at the top, and work your way down. Not enough time? Might be worth answering some of that e-mail instead of posting on the forum all day long huh? ;)

Greg Moore

akashik,
thank you for that enlightening point of view :)

I'm also glad the Baskin Robbin days are over!

I agree with you too, akashik.

I think most anyone feels this way about their job sometimes. It's the "grass is always greener" feeling.

I'm a 35 y.o. self employeed woodworker who started reselling two years ago and now have my own dedicated server. I still split my day with building furniture, refinishing antiques, and web hosting. As my hosting business grows, I'll soon be able to only take the woodworking jobs that I want to do. I look forward to the day when I can take my sign down, lock the shop, and work on my hosting business.

I get people all the time in my shop telling me how I have it made. I work alone, get to work with my hands, have interesting projects to work on, etc. Those people don't think how bad thier back, knees, and feet would hurt after 8, 10, or 12 hours of standing on a concrete floor while sanding wood until thier fingers start to bleed. No stress? Try running stock through a machine all day long knowing that one slip or loss of concentration and you will be without a few of your fingers for the rest of your life. They could also enjoy the smell of stripping chemicals, lacquer fumes, and dust entering thier lungs all day. Profitable? I wish. One goof up on an bid and I'm working for nothing and hoping the next few jobs will get me back to where I should have been . . . but it never does.

I could go on but that's not my point. I also know my job is a piece of cake compared to what many others do every day.

Take a break, look around at what else you could be doing and go from there. If you decide hosting is not for you, send a bunch of your customers to me. I'm looking forward to spending my day sitting in a soft chair, in a controlled enviornment in front of my computer helping people. Sure, I know it's not going to be that easy, but I think I'm up to the challenge. I know my knees, feet, and lungs are.

Scott

Doing anything with computers is my pride and joy... whether I be fixing them for my first job or selling hosting for my second. You know the say: If you choose a job that you enjoy you will never work another day? Well, thats my outcome. Being stressed on the job helps keep it exciting and you even learn new things that benefit you in the future. I wouldn't give the experience up for anything no matter how bad things could get. They have to get better in the end sometime cause things can only get so worse.

I don't think I go ever go back to the life of working 9-5 and getting 8 hours of sleep a night :) I would put Pepsi out of business if I did :)

Maybe I'm lucky, but the business for me doesn't require a lot of my time. I actually wish I had more work to do.

I'm bored when there is no email to respond to.

My work day is 12 hours long, sure, but the amount of work actually done is 2-3 hours worth. The other time, I'm just making work for myself. Programming, seeing what I can upgrade, visiting WHT, playing games.

I feel no guilt about leaving the office during that 12 hours, either. Our customers are happy with the response times they get.

And I do most of the work. Jason who does sales is almost always working on his art or his writing, or doing a graphic design or media job on the side.

I will sort of be giving in soon, though. I'm going to get a full time job, I think, and make jason do everything for awhile. I'm getting bored.

And let's not even get started on office politics and the as****e boss who screws with you and yells at you 'cause he caught his dog humping his wife. :rolleyes:

It's really funny... I've talked to many people that have had 9-5 jobs and now are doing some sort of web business... They ALL seem to tell me the internet life is a lot better! :D

Originally posted by Skeptical
And let's not even get started on office politics and the as****e boss who screws with you and yells at you 'cause he caught his dog humping his wife. :rolleyes:

I have no boss yelling at me, oh what a nice job. :D

And you guys sleep :eek:

And Yes best part of doing it yourself is No boss, no time clock.
I lub it.

Originally posted by allmark
And Yes best part of doing it yourself is No boss, no time clock.

I'd disagree. You have the hardest boss in the world -- yourself -- and you have a strict time clock -- three score and ten years.

If you're working for someone else and you don't get finished on time, your boss can hire someone else, or you can work late... when you're working for yourself, you don't always have those options.

I've come across a nice web site building/hosting service that lets you build the customer's sites and they take care of the billing and give the toll free tech support to the customer. Granted you only get a commission on the monthly hosting of the customer, but you don't have to worry about tech support for customer and the recurring billing is taken care of for you. The customer can have ecommerce on their site, so if they don't have a merchant account you can sell them one and if they don't have a domain name guess what? You can sell that to them too.From all the nightmare billing and fraud I read about day in and day out I thought some people might find this set up rather attractive. If you know of any webmasters that just wanna build sites and let someone else take care of the bakend, drop me a line

I come from a different perspecitive on this. I agree with Greg Moore, "akashik" as well as Scott, "sonserver" that the alternative is not a pleasent one.

I am 37 and have been working for a corporation for 10 years. No challenges and no freedom. Always playing corporate politics and kissing someone's butt for pathetic pay. That is why I am going to start a hosting business (not the only reason of course).

I have been searching for a way out for years (even tried Amway briefly :cartman: ). It will be hard since I have a full time job with very little flexability, but I think that not doing anything would kill me much faster. There really isn't much hope there and the victim mentality is alive and well.

I think maybe some of those living the sucess of their businesses are certainly working hard but having "just a regular job" is really not where you want to be. Perhaps it is an issue of age? I can tell you I wish I would have come across this idea long ago. I have a lot of learning to do but stretching the mind is invigorating compared to the hopelessness and braindead atmosphere that is the corporate job.

Technology has always been my hobby and so now I get to get a little more serious about it. Cheer up guys! Life is never easy but you at least have a HUGE amount of control over yours!

Dave

When the stress starts building up... step away from your desk, and do something else. You'll be amazed at how much better you feel.

... Life might not come with documentation, but i can tell you most of my favorite games do! :D, nothing like mixing work with play to make life more relaxing, and less productive hehe.

Originally posted by Groundhog
I come from a different perspecitive on this. I agree with Greg Moore, "akashik" as well as Scott, "sonserver" that the alternative is not a pleasent one.

I am 37 and have been working for a corporation for 10 years. No challenges and no freedom. Always playing corporate politics and kissing someone's butt for pathetic pay. That is why I am going to start a hosting business (not the only reason of course).

I have been searching for a way out for years (even tried Amway briefly :cartman: ). It will be hard since I have a full time job with very little flexability, but I think that not doing anything would kill me much faster. There really isn't much hope there and the victim mentality is alive and well.

I think maybe some of those living the sucess of their businesses are certainly working hard but having "just a regular job" is really not where you want to be. Perhaps it is an issue of age? I can tell you I wish I would have come across this idea long ago. I have a lot of learning to do but stretching the mind is invigorating compared to the hopelessness and braindead atmosphere that is the corporate job.

Technology has always been my hobby and so now I get to get a little more serious about it. Cheer up guys! Life is never easy but you at least have a HUGE amount of control over yours!

Dave

I know what you mean. I've been unemployed for a while, and I wish I'd had the income and balls to start a reselling business. Now I'm faced with going back into corporate cubicle land, I'm dreading it. Really dreading it.

Newb here, how many of your guys colocate to save on costs? I'm looking to start a hosting company built on a colocated server to bring down monthly cost and maximize income. This thread scares me basically, you guys seem really unhappy. Currently I'm attending school, I have a small background in hosting related things but it seems this mightb e a bit much. I'm going to post a thread asking what it takes to start a hosting company, anyone with some input about starting a company please post there. Still back to this thread, and help would be great. :D

I think that in everything i have ever done there has always been times when i wished i could give up and do something else. Especially when you have one of those days when you have more hours worth of work to do that there are in a day and then you get extra work added to your list during the day.
In the end i am happy doing what i am though and wouldnt want to be doing anything else

Id have to say that when youre up at 4am working as hard as you can to solve a problem and get 10 tickets in a row from the same guy saying what a complete !@#$^@$ you are and how theyre contacting their lawyers the bbb the attourney general and the queen of england about how terrible your hosting is, that yes sometimes you may want to kill yourself and everyone within sniping range, but when things are going good the job is fun and you get to play with alot of cool toys :)

-Brendan

Originally posted by stodge


I know what you mean. I've been unemployed for a while, and I wish I'd had the income and balls to start a reselling business. Now I'm faced with going back into corporate cubicle land, I'm dreading it. Really dreading it.

Same here. I was out of work March - November and had thought about reselling but never really looked hard at it. Kinda pissed I didn't take advantage of it at the time. No time like the present though. Cubical land still sucks worse than ever. Good motivator for sure.

Dave