I'd like to ask a few questions about investing money into the hosting business. Any opinions you have about the questions are appreciated.

My current situation has resulted in me having to sell my property to free up some money to pay off loans etc (details which I won’t bore you with like I do everyone else) so I’m looking at investing the money I have left into some form of business which will earn me a ‘decent’ wage.

As I’ve been working with computers for the past 5 years, I’ve decided that’s the path I’d like to take, but beyond that my torn between two possibilities:

1) Web Hosting
2) Building Computers

As this forum isn’t the ideal place to be asking about the later of the two, I’d like your opinions on the first. Would it be worth me investing my money in the Web Hosting business? If so, would I be better to start up a new business or purchase existing clients/companies? Currently I have £15.5k (about $30k) to invest into whichever venture I decide to go for.

I’ll be honest and say my experience with Unix systems is limited, so server management costs would also need to be considered.

As a summary for those who chose not to read all of peoples posts; Is investing £15.5k ($30k) in a Web Hosting business a good idea?

Many Thanks,
Steve

You could start with a reseller account and learn the business that way. With that money you can kick off quite some advertising to get a kickstart. But you should have a solid business plan to prepare yourself for any kind of growth.

With the hosting market in its current near-saturated state, I think the last thing you want to do is go in all-guns blazing with £15,500 and invest it all straight away. Start small with a reseller account, getting to know the whole system and learning to work with customers. This will also enable you to establish your niche market (you will need to be targeting a specific type of customer in all likelihood) and work from there. If you find out that hosting is not for you, at least you won't have wasted all of your money in doing so!

I would start with a reseller account for just a few bucks a month. If I were you, I would maybe buy a few clients but you should try to build your business up from the bottom as well.

Good luck!