Hello,

I'm thinking of getting into the web hosting business as a "side job" to my current full time position in Public Safety. I have built a web page or 2 in the past but am not very up on sql coding and advanced web-ism.

With that being said, I'm currently under the impression that you can turn on a reseller account, set your packages and sell service, field an occassional tech support question, and do your billing.

Is there something I'm missing? Is there more to it that I'm missing? I may look for "outsourced" customer support as I grow when I can no longer field the "occasional" tech support question. But other then that I find little reason to steer away from this venture.

I'm NOT worried about advertising or getting clients for reasons that I would rather not post on here right now. I just dont' want to get involved in something without doing all the research.

I'm sure that somewhere in the 454 pages of posts on this site someone may have already asked this however I'm starting to go blind from all my research today.

Thank you in advance to whomever can help. I look forward to talking with everyone as time progresses.

Sincerely,


Mike C.

There's loads of threads on this :)

I'm NOT worried about advertising or getting clients for reasons that I would rather not post on here right now.
Sounds a bit ominous to me :P

I suppose you're kind of right you could do what you said...
With that being said, I'm currently under the impression that you can turn on a reseller account, set your packages and sell service, field an occassional tech support question, and do your billing.


I know from experience and alot of other hosts out there will tell you that there's alot of stress involved and sleepless nights - especially as you start to grow. I find the hardest part getting the clients but as you say above if you aren't worried about getting the clients - then you should be OK! :)

As I say there are alot of threads available - take a look here for just a few:
http://webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=94

But even doing a search for "starting a web hosting business" will show you some quite interesting threads - other than that...

Good luck and I wish you every success!
Liam

With that being said, I'm currently under the impression that you can turn on a reseller account, set your packages and sell service, field an occassional tech support question, and do your billing.

Yup you could but you wont be in business very long!

I'm NOT worried about advertising or getting clients for reasons that I would rather not post on here right now. I just dont' want to get involved in something without doing all the research.

Web space doesn't sell it self!

If you are not totally dedicated to the business aspect of it, your customers, and keeping them your first priority, and staying ontop of advertising, I really don't see this venture taking off the ground. I think you underestimate the responsibility the majority of these web hosting CEO's and owners deal with. There is alot of stress that is involved. I think it is safe to say that there is alot more than the "occassional" technical support questions, and tickets, and emails, so that is a must. You have to realize that there are 100's of "hosting" companies popping up everyday, because people seem to think that its a get rich industry. These hosting companies pretty much make the industry as a whole look bad because they lack good customer service, support. These are the "fly-by-nights" Here today Gone Tommorow. These types of hosts make people RUN away from paid hosting and lean more toward free hosts, basically ruining the image of good support and service. (why pay for bad support, and hosting....when you can get it free) Basically, I am saying that if you are not totally dedicated to the venture...don't venture! However, if you seem to think thats all there is too it...by all means prove me wrong!

That's pretty much the gist of it.
Even so with a small reseller account and a few clients, you will find, that you will need to have patience for support, and if something needs to be done, you have to contact your provider to do it, and in the meantime, talk to your clients and say: hold the phone luv, it's being done, patience is a virtue... lol.

Reseller is the way to go...
Then VPS.. Then dedi... Then build a nice box and colo it.. Then a few more dedi's... Then a few more colo's... dedi's around the globe... Get a rack... Get a bigger rack... More racks. Wa-la. Your a big boy now.

Then VPS.. Then dedi... Then build a nice box and colo it.. Then a few more dedi's... Then a few more colo's... dedi's around the globe... Get a rack... Get a bigger rack... More racks. Wa-la. Your a big boy now.

Then you can think about outsourcing...lets crawl before you walk :)

I gracioiusly accept the constructive criticism which is why I asked the question to begin with. I in no means plan on starting a "half-assed" system which is why I'm doing all the research.

I currently have 1, maybe 2 guys that are very tech savy to fix my "immediate" issues when customers have sql script problems here and there. I was looking at HostGator.com for hosting solutions as they seem to better reviews then most but not the best pricing. Although I AM a strong believer in you get what you pay for!

As I stated before, I have a full time public safety position and plan on starting with hosting other police, fire, and ems agencies. I also plan on staying in that field figuring that it will keep me out of all the cut-throat competativeness that's out there with the "general civilian" market. Not saying there won't be competition, but people in my field tend to work with people in my field.

Outside of that, who do you guys recommend for a service provider?

Mike C.

I gracioiusly accept the constructive criticism which is why I asked the question to begin with. I in no means plan on starting a "half-assed" system which is why I'm doing all the research.

I currently have 1, maybe 2 guys that are very tech savy to fix my "immediate" issues when customers have sql script problems here and there. I was looking at HostGator.com for hosting solutions as they seem to better reviews then most but not the best pricing. Although I AM a strong believer in you get what you pay for!

As I stated before, I have a full time public safety position and plan on starting with hosting other police, fire, and ems agencies. I also plan on staying in that field figuring that it will keep me out of all the cut-throat competativeness that's out there with the "general civilian" market. Not saying there won't be competition, but people in my field tend to work with people in my field.

Outside of that, who do you guys recommend for a service provider?

Mike C.

QuckHost offers technical support for your customers, maybe you could get a reseller there. http://www.quickhost.com

ResellerZoom: Also very good http://www.resellerzoom.com

JLHost is very good aswell: http://www.jlhost.com

Wish the best of luck to you! I hope all goes well!

hostfrog can you PM me with your email address? I apparently don't have access to PM you on here.... just wanted to ask you a quick question about your site.

Thanks.

hostfrog can you PM me with your email address? I apparently don't have access to PM you on here.... just wanted to ask you a quick question about your site.

Thanks.

you can not receive PM's you can message me on AIM at FrogNocLive or email me at sales@host-frog.com :)

hostfrog can you PM me with your email address? I apparently don't have access to PM you on here.... just wanted to ask you a quick question about your site.

Thanks.

You can not send or receive PM's until you have made 5 posts.