A friend of mine and I just started a new company. We are going to start offering basic tech services to indivduals and small companies. This will include simple web sites and hosting (as well as small peer-to-peer networking.) We plan to grow quickly in both knowledge and services. We plan to get into Database connectivity and web applications development within a year. We currently are increasing our skills beyond just being able to put a static site up with maybe a form or a little javascript.

I found this site researching web hosting, so I guess my first question is given our skills what would be the best host for us and our clients, that offers good value and solid tech support for "novices", but will also be able to help us grow into a more sophisticated company? Any other advice would also be appreciated!:D

I think any hosting company that offers good and friendly support will be able to help "novices" out. Tell them your plans, tell them what you need now and what you think you'll need in a year. Those are my $.2 ;)

Hope that helps.

well whatever you do stay away from Interland. They're horrible for growing. they take your money and leave you stranded.

If you're going to start small and grow, I'd suggest a company that has a good reputation both in small business webhosting and dedicated webhosting. the two such i'd go for are:

http://www.verio.com
http://www.hostway.com

verio is awesome i hear. 2 years ago i decided to go w/ hostpro instead and micron. inc merged hostpro and Interland. :( Now, I sort of wish I had picked verio instead, especially since they have regional offices, one located in downtown where i am.

Hostway is good too. :)

if you're searching for an all around good host, I'd try these websites too:

http://www.tophosts.com
http://www.webhostdir.com