Currently I am writing my business plan, I seem to have covered all aspects except support. I understand the value of A+ support not only to my customers, but it's invaluable to myself as well. Although I have the ability, it wouldn't make sense to take care of support myself. My startup budget is limited, so I'm looking for some suggestions on cost effective support solutions. Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you.

You could outsource your support to a reputable company and end up with good results. www.touchsupport.com comes to mind.

Do you have a dedicated server or are you starting off as a reseller? If a reseller, some providers offer End-User support, the cost of the reseller may jump a tad bit, but some find it's well worth it, especially on a limited budget. End-User support is basically, the hosting provider YOU go through will anonymously and YOU take the credit. Basically its outsourcing like what layer0 has suggested but doing it through your provider....one invoice. However, there are places like Touch Support that you could outsource, its basically your call. There are the two choices however.

Consider about outsourcing which will be cost effective.
check bobcares.com

How many clients do you have is something else to look at? If you only have 20 then look after them yourself (if you have the expertise), if you have 250 employ others or outsource.

Do you get many support calls a day?

Can you supply 24/7 support and would you want to?

Get a good Trouble Ticket (helpdesk) package that will organise any issues. EV1 who I use are top quality with their support calls and response times.

use support ticket or automatic chat reply software

I would look into outsourcing the support or finding a company that provides end user support.

"he's writing a business plan" implies he doesn't have any customers yet. If that is the case, you SHOULD start off doing the support yourself so you have a good feel of what your customers need and what your documentation may be "lacking" for new start-up customers.

Email support is pretty standard. Having a ticketing system like Kayako is pretty useful since you can build a FAQ or Knowledgebase on they fly with commonly asked questions. Have the support@yourdomain go to a pager also so you know when people are trying to contact you. ($200 for the software)

With YOUR fingers in support, you will be able to make the best decissions about when/where/who for added options.

Good luck!

Hello,

You would have to select those support companies which would give a good support in a competitive price. There are many available who need to make a choice among those.

Thank you.

Regards,