hi everybody,

i currently live in florida and i have been researching running a webhost as a reseller for about 2 weeks for atleast 5hrs aday, and i have been coming up with all sorts of information, and i am finaly ready to start, and i was wondering if need to get licenced, what i want to do is start out a reseller and work my way up to getting my own servers, thanks alot for the help

Mike

I don't think license is required for reselling any services, unless you are bind with some company with some kind of contract which states that you can not do any other job or service during the period in which you are working for them.

Otherwise I guess its totally ok.

Be sure to read their usage/purchase agreements so that if you ever wanted to transfer your clients to a new host you can do so, without legal difficulties. A few hosting providers had major difficulties a while back when they tried leaving their 'old hosts' and moving to new data centers.

Start out by researching potential hosts so that you know your customers are well taken care of when you start reselling

You can then start designing your site, establishing prices, etc.

I think a good way to start would be to put together a little business plan of sorts to keep you focused on your goals as a reseller and later growing out of the reseller stage

I don't think you need a licence to resell, but it wouldn't hurt to check just to be sure.

As already stated, make sure you have a business plan in place and stick to it.

Good luck!

I would suggest you consider these hosts for resellers:

- MCHost.com
- SplashHost.com
- Voxtreme.com
- If you have some extra $$$ to spare then go dedicated with rackshack.net

Originally posted by Mack
- If you have some extra $$$ to spare then go dedicated with rackshack.net [/B]
For a newbie jumping into hosting, that suggestion is so cruel. :eek:

You do not need a license here in the US but I would highly suggest at the mimimum registering under a DBA at your local town hall.

Originally posted by ms99k
hi everybody,

i currently live in florida and i have been researching running a webhost as a reseller for about 2 weeks for atleast 5hrs aday, and i have been coming up with all sorts of information, and i am finaly ready to start, and i was wondering if need to get licenced, what i want to do is start out a reseller and work my way up to getting my own servers, thanks alot for the help

Mike
What are your motives for wanting to start this kind of business?? Do you know how overcrowded and saturated the market is?? Where is your niche?? I could easily ask you 100 more questions that you should know the answer for before starting.

Yes, you'll probably need some form of business licence in the city that your business will reside from. You'll have to declare income for tax purposes etc.

Being a hosting provider is a complex business and one that will require much dedication from yourself. It's not a build website - get reseller plan - get credit card processing facility - roll in the bucks deal. It's damn hard work etc.

Not trying to rain on your parade here. Just trying to show you the rocks before you dive in and hurt yourself. :)

i have realized its hard work i have been researching this for almost a month i have already picked out a reseller and have designed my site and set my own plans, and i dont expect it to be easy from looking at this site its members almost each one runs there own host so i hafta run a better business than you all which i know isnt easy, also i know support isnt easy i expect to get atleast 100emails/day once i get about 20-30clients up and running and i am ready for it

I think your over reacting. Just get a reseller plan and get into it. If you have questions you already know where to get the answers. :)

just out of curiousity, a reseller is where someone buys like server space and sells it out to ppl right? if it is right, what would be selling the sevrer space? ( the ppl who sell to resellers?)

Originally posted by ms99k
...also i know support isnt easy i expect to get atleast 100emails/day once i get about 20-30clients up and running and i am ready for it
I seriously doubt you'll have that many emails per day with that few clients. Of course, they all could be newbies. If so, prepare to brace yourself. :eek: :D

Originally posted by cLin
just out of curiousity, a reseller is where someone buys like server space and sells it out to ppl right? if it is right, what would be selling the sevrer space? ( the ppl who sell to resellers?)
The supply chain from the top down is complex to say the least. Hang around these forums for about 6mths and you'll get a glimpse of that supply chain. :)

1. Bandwidth providers like Sprint and Cogent provide bandwidth to large datacenters

2. Large datacenters rent cabinet space and rack space to web hosting companes and brokers

3. Web hosting companies put servers into the datacenters and lease out space on the servers or lease the servers altogether to other web hosts and individual companies

4. Resellers usually rent space from a server that the reseller host has leased from either a hosting company or datacenter.

You can see by the time you get your reseller account it has been through many hoops to get to you. This is why they're not always that stable... too many people involved.

DON'T DO IT.

JUST SAY NO.

OPEN A LEMONADE STAND.

:D