Did anyone work full time at another job while they started their webhosting business? I'm in this situation right now and trying to brain storm some solutions and get feed back from peopel who have done this.

One way I'm thinking of doing this is I'll take two days off on weekdays (say Mon and Tues) to work on the webhosting. My gf who will be helping me out is also going to take two days off (say Wed and Thurs) so she can fill in when I'm at work. There will be one day in the week where both of us can't do it but I'm pretty sure I can convince or bribe my boss into letting me answers calls forwarded to my cell and check for trouble tickets online. I might take three days off per week but that cuts into my surplus earnings (Left over money after all my bills and hosting bills are paid)


Any other suggestions from people who have done it?

Thanks
Arek

I wouldn't suggest running a web hosting business unless you actually have the time for it, but its possible. A friend of mine has done this.

You can hire some other staff who can take care of support for you, but it all comes to a cost. Check out http://www.bobcares.com/

If your current boss is supportive of the idea, that's a good sign. Be sure to put all of your excess earning in to the business so you can get out sooner!

You should definitely automate as much as possible before you start so you can dedicated your spare time to fixing real problems rather than supporting simple problems, billing, etc.

I have to agree with Jason, starting a web hosting business is really a full time job (and then some) in itself.

... but if you can figure out a way to juggle your time properly without sacrificing customer service for your clients, then go for it! :)

Why not make your support via IM.... or helpdesk system where you will be able to respond by typing (in the event you have internet access at work) this is how we started the business a few years ago) also you have a 4 hour turn around where you can access it during lunch time and after hours.... In your case I would not host the server on your site... you want to host it with others. this way you only worry about software debuggun and walk through

If your current boss is supportive of the idea,

Heh they dont know about it but I'm sure I can work things out with my manager.

Why not make your support via IM.... or helpdesk system where you will be able to respond by typing (in the event you have internet access at work) this is how we started the business a few years ago) also you have a 4 hour turn around where you can access it during lunch time and after hours.... In your case I would not host the server on your site... you want to host it with others. this way you only worry about software debuggun and walk through

I will try to automate as much as I can and I'm not too worried about tech support but about new customer signups over the phone or phone inquires. Just trying to figure out how to miniminze the time where a customer might phone and get an answering service becase I might not be available to answer the phone.

I wouldn't suggest running a web hosting business unless you actually have the time for it, but its possible. A friend of mine has done this.

You can hire some other staff who can take care of support for you, but it all comes to a cost. Check out http://www.bobcares.com/

I'm 90% sure I can do it. I've worked for a fairly big ISP/Webhost before and had to juggle tons of things by myself (Web besign/tech suport/billing/signups). It was like 4000 customers mostly between 3 and sometimes 4 of us.

If it comes down to it I'll take three days off per week from work and have my gf fill in for the two other days.

Well if you're prepared to take any measures that are needed, go ahead with it :) I can only with you good luck with the progress of your business. :) :)

I'd not worry about phone support at the beginning - it seems that even though this channel is typically made available, customers resort to chat and helpdesk for support.

Roj

I'd not worry about phone support at the beginning - it seems that even though this channel is typically made available, customers resort to chat and helpdesk for support.

Roj
True! it really depends where the customer is located compared to where you are located on how they want to contact you. Phone calls can be expensive, especially long distance, and its so much easier to have support in a chat because then you can read instructions as many times as you need :) just my own opinion on it.

Webhosting is a full time job, even you can't sleep 5hrs a day:(
If you have $$ on hand try third party tech support. But I don't recomand go to a cheap (Indian based) company.

Cheers,
Beruska

Webhosting is a full time job, even you can't sleep 5hrs a day:(
If you have $$ on hand try third party tech support. But I don't recomand go to a cheap (Indian based) company.

Cheers,
Beruska

Well for all the money I would spend on outsourced help I might as well take an extra day off my main job. Plus I dont think I could stand it knowing that I dont know the people doing the support.

Webhosting is a full time job, even you can't sleep 5hrs a day:(


I've started my host at the same time as working a full time job and am discovering just how little sleep you can survive on. But 5hrs a day is about how much sleep I seem to get these days. There's way more work involved in this than I anticipated.

Well...web hosting biz for me is a part time job...the supports are handled by a 3rd party UK company....

Phone Support when you can't be reasonably expected to answer it isn't worth it, whether that be support or sales.

Stick with an e-mail piped helpdesk and maybe chat for sales. That way you can hopefully sneak in and answer the easy tickets while at work. Spend some extra time on a huge knowledgebase with both image walkthrough and flash tutorials so you can link canned responses on as many issues as possible.

Outsourcing support might be a very viable alternative until you have a clientbase that can support you.

And get used to not sleeping ;)

I started my hosting company a couple years ago while working full time. I will now be leaving my "day" job in a few months to work only hosting/development.

It's taken a while, but we are a small company so the slow-but-steady approach works well. Still a full year faster than I figured I'd be leaving.

I run a web hosting business with over 500 clients along with a full time job and I'm really stuggling to keep up with the support requests. It also takes over your life quite a bit! I'd advise either taking the plunge and going full time or employ a third party to handle the support.

If it comes down to it I'll take three days off per week from work and have my gf fill in for the two other days.
And let the clients just swing for the other 2 ? Hosting is a 24/7 operation, the people you'll be taking money off of will *expect* to be able to access their email at 3.10am on Sunday morning...

And let the clients just swing for the other 2 ? Hosting is a 24/7 operation, the people you'll be taking money off of will *expect* to be able to access their email at 3.10am on Sunday morning...

I'm not talking about wee hours of the morning tech support here. I'm talking about making myself available to answers business related questions during normal weekday hours with out having the customer deal with a message service.

With proper set up I can monitor any support related questions 24/7, then again what good is 24/7 tech suport in a reseller situation when your support is only as good as your reseller host. "Most" people will understand if they get an answering service at 3:10 am and leave a message for a call back.

a lot of people started it as hobby...why quit your full time that you know will pay bills to start something that may or may not work.

i say working full time and start your webhost biz part time is the way to go when you just start

I work part-time, school part-time, and run a web hosting buisness. :)

Beruska, How does party tech support from India works? do you know some companies?

Carlos

I'm sorry if this comes across as offensive, but I am sick and tired of people calling web hosting a part time job.

It was nothing but a 16-18 hour a day nightmare for me.

You are either going to give your soul to this game, or you don't at all.

That's why I chose to got out of it.

Hello!
When I first started hosting (About 2+ years ago) I worked full time and ran a host (design, and host) and really did not have a problem with it. One thing that really helped, is when I hired staff. I had about 2 Support reps (working for free* hosting) and 1 addtional sales rep (50% Commision) and everything ran fairly smooth.

Good Luck :) ,

we've bad experience with Indian companies:( most of companies did not have a highly educated staff. most of tech guys are collage students and work for extra money.
Personally I've visited more than 25 companies in India, poor tech support. I'm sorry I can't recommend indian companies for tech support. so we've started our tech support center in Sri Lanka, a little expensive, but we're happy:)

Cheers,
Beruska

Olly']I'm sorry if this comes across as offensive, but I am sick and tired of people calling web hosting a part time job.

It was nothing but a 16-18 hour a day nightmare for me.

You are either going to give your soul to this game, or you don't at all.

That's why I chose to got out of it.

I'm sorry if this comes across as offensive but if you were spending that much time and it was a nightmare that's your own fault.

I don't want people to think I see it as a part-time obligation. I'm fortunate to have employers that actually let me run my business from the office, so that helps with time obligations. Our servers are stable and we have an extensive faq/ flash tutorial section so I spend at most an hour a day on things other than marketing/site development/planning the future.

I'm available to the business 24 hours a day but rarely work more than 8 on it.

You are going to get alot of people who didnt have the same advantages you have available come in this thread and try to knock you down. These days you can hire outsourced staff at a reasonable price, automate billing, and hire a server management company. Of course you will have to keep these costs in mind with pricing, but the whole idea is you will get rid of alot of these costs once you are making enough to make a living off it. So you will see your profit margin jump once you go full time and get rid of the other expenses.

hello, it's hard to start anything but you still need a full or part time job in case hosting doesn't work out for you. that way you can have something to fall back on. you can't really count on something that you just start to pay for all your bills.

from personal experience as one who is working full-time while building a desing/hosting company as we speak - it can be done

- use your time wisely
- build slowly... slow and steady wins the race
- offer help desk support first and then add more options from there
- monitior your growth and adjust as necessary
- set realistic goals
- get a mobile device for when you are at work/on the go
- stay positive

again, it can be done... lots of luck to you

i tried to but its hard to even get customers, webhosting more of a hobby than anything else i think

so go ahead man, if anything your gonna just be building your website at first

just make sure you can do support really well

try it as a reseller first. Test how many accounts you can hande. Learn the easy way. Someone mentioned about 4 hour turnaround to support. If your enthusiastic enough and your boss doesnt mind; work through your lunch. If your than interested, you wont mind. Women can eat and type, why cant men?Take time off when you get busier. Balance income from hosting with reduced hours aty our own job. Dont do both full time. Youll loose your enthusiasm.

You will also learn the basic concepts and processes of running a hosting business for yourself (DNS Admin, Billing, Support (use a ticket system and build a webmasters forum with the replies), etc. Dont run before you can walk.

Remember you have other things to do as a business - accounts, tax, banking, advertising / promotion, spending time helping other webmasters on forums, family life etc...

hope this helps
Regards
Simple Techology Corporation

I run a web hosting business with over 500 clients along with a full time job and I'm really stuggling to keep up with the support requests. It also takes over your life quite a bit! I'd advise either taking the plunge and going full time or employ a third party to handle the support.


How long did it take to get 500 customers?

The people u buy your reseller account from --- dont they provide support for a small fee.Some like resellerzoom i have seen offers 24/7 tech support(email only) -- atleast thats something.

pl reply

I am planning to start my own hosting business and presently doing my research on forums.

thanks