What do you think about people that run a hosting company that are married and/or have children? It seems to me that they many of them would have less time for running a webhosting business and supporting their clients than a school kid would. Kids and spouses take up alot more time than schoolbooks. Comments?

If your runing the entire company by yourself and your the CEO, Sales Rep. Technical Support and everything it could be really tough and probably impossible.

It could get impossible even without a wife and kids once you grow to a point.

I think hosting companies which run by only one person should change their strategy; thats if their income allows them though.

Regards,

Once you become a 'family guy' you'll find you also become an expert in time management. Believe me when I say it is possible to fit 48 hours work into a single day and do it well if all your ducks are in a row. It's quite amazing just how much time there is that can be put to better use. :)

Greg Moore

I don't know about that Greg. Seems to me that you could be a great host but be a terrible parent or spouse, OR I guess you could be a great "family person" by giving "quality time" to your family, and then you'd probably be a lousy host.

Originally posted by chrisb
What do you think about people that run a hosting company that are married and/or have children? It seems to me that they many of them would have less time for running a webhosting business and supporting their clients than a school kid would. Kids and spouses take up alot more time than schoolbooks. Comments?

Now how do you come to that conclusion?

How does a married person with kids go to work? I guess that means everyone that is married can't possible work?

It works fine for me, sure they take time but guess what I can type and feed a baby at the same time. In fact I have my 3 week old son in my arms now.
I can sit around with my wife and kids talk, play games etc, a support email comes in and it plays a tune I take a few minutes answer it and then go back to doing what I was.

I get help to watch things while I am away.

During normal business hours take care of business during off hours only work when needed.

Guess I don't get the problem. Now if you are doing hosting as a hobby, and have full time job then you have the same problem school kids do.

Hello,

Some people are talking in the way, as if they own a company with +100 employees.

C'mon guys gimme a break... Most of the people who are posting here and they say they *own* a company, it ain't true.

They are all 1-2 person operating companies from their *own* bedroom.

But, well smart to show they are owning it.

PS: Guys, I did not mean all of you, of course there are too many people as well who are respectable and we do respect them.

Great Day!

Well said Monte. I couldn't agree more.

Chris, the key to it is family. It's not like I do it by myself. With the three of us working together (myself, my partner, our daughter), everything gets done, and done properly.

I'll grant if our daughter was one of those mad hellion's you see screaming in the supermarket it might be a different story, but she's 51% percent angel. :)

Greg Moore

You can type and feed a baby at the same time? I'd hate to see where you put the food. :)

*lol* well at 3 weeks old I'd imagine he's just plugging the hole with a bottle.

Greg Moore

Well it aint that hard to hold a 3 week old baby and with bottle in its mouth.

In this business you adapt.

HeadMaster

I never claimed to be a 100 person company, never want to be either BTDT. I have a wife who is an accountant she does all the billing, I do sys admin and most of the trouble tickets. I am in Australia most of the time now, my daughter who is in Arkansas looks after things there and watches the servers and help desk while I sleep, we take advantage of the time differences to offer 24/7 support. My son in Texas helps on weekends sometimes so as a family run business we pretty well have it covered.

possible but irresponsible...

Originally posted by chrisb
What do you think about people that run a hosting company that are married and/or have children? It seems to me that they many of them would have less time for running a webhosting business and supporting their clients than a school kid would. Kids and spouses take up alot more time than schoolbooks. Comments?

Dear Monte,

Well... I didn't mean you at all. Sorry, but I guess there's a misunderstanding.

However, from here I do apologize from you, if you think I meant something toward you.

Have a great day!

Originally posted by Atlonim
possible but irresponsible...



What is irresponsible about feeding a baby a bottle? There is not a hell of allot to do while they feed.

Originally posted by Monte


What is irresponsible about feeding a baby a bottle? There is not a hell of allot to do while they feed.

You may watch your baby or talk to it instead of hitting stupid keyboard... No wonder if world is turning into s**t...

Originally posted by chrisb
What do you think about people that run a hosting company that are married and/or have children? It seems to me that they many of them would have less time for running a webhosting business and supporting their clients than a school kid would. Kids and spouses take up alot more time than schoolbooks. Comments?
I have 4.79 children and 1 wife. :D Plenty of time for my business. I mainly work from my home office now and can easily balance a family and business. :cool: But then again, I've always been told that I'm "special" :buck:

Like take for now as an example. I'm just about to tuck the kids into bed and do the bedtime stories, do the dishes, make the wife a cup of tea, give her a foot massage, all while taking care of my business. :)

Originally posted by Atlonim


You may watch your baby or talk to it instead of hitting stupid keyboard... No wonder if world is turning into s**t...

You have no clue my friend. Believe me my baby gets talked to held and taken care of very well. I can see you have no kids yourself. Since I work from a home office as does my wife that baby is with one of us all day long. In my opinion that beats the hell out of parents that go to work and leave their kids in day care 8 to 10 hours a day.

Originally posted by Aussie Bob

Like take for now as an example. I'm just about to tuck the kids into bed and do the bedtime stories, do the dishes, make the wife a cup of tea, give her a foot massage, all while taking care of my business. :)

Geez your slow I have already made dinner, bathed and changed the baby, done the dishes made the wife's tea, taken the garbage out. Will wait till later when the kids are asleep for the foot massage. :D

Originally posted by Monte


You have no clue my friend. Believe me my baby gets talked to held and taken care of very well. I can see you have no kids yourself. Since I work from a home office as does my wife that baby is with one of us all day long. In my opinion that beats the hell out of parents that go to work and leave their kids in day care 8 to 10 hours a day.
Agreed 100% Monte. Well said indeed!! :)

Originally posted by Monte
Will wait till later when the kids are asleep for the foot massage. :D
You wish!! ;) :D

I can dream can't I :D

Originally posted by Monte
I can dream can't I :D
Your wife has just had the bub. You're at least 6 weeks on the bench mate. :D

this is what I was told anyways. :eek:

Originally posted by Aussie Bob

Your wife has just had the bub. You're at least 6 weeks on the bench mate. :D

this is what I was told anyways. :eek:

Like I said I can dream can't I:D

I have a feeling it will be more like 7 or 8 weeks.:crying:

Originally posted by Monte
I have a feeling it will be more like 7 or 8 weeks.:crying:
You'll live. :stickout

:eek2:

I would suspect it hard to run any business with wife and kids, but not impossible, all businesses take a lot of time.

I treat my business as if it were one of my kids :D get child minder for business when I need to do some real work!! :D

It also depends where you want to go with your business, are you happy just hosting anough people to pay your bills, or do you want to steam roll over billy boy?

Everything in moderation.

This thread must of been started by a teenager trying to prove a point that they are better than the older people that actually have a life beyond Internet.

Just because you decide to start a family and run a business, does not mean you can not do both and do it well. This is ludacris that you can not spend time with your family and run a hosting company.

Just the thought of someone typing while feeding a 3 week old baby pissing someone off is off the wall. Come on people, don't we have better things to do with our time than to sit here and bash people because they decided to take a venture into making a business in the hosting world.

For me, it is my family that drives me to do well, and taking a 10 minute support call is no different than a teenager taking a 10 minute call from mom or dad.

Now that I got that out, everyone have a great day!

<!-- begin scarcasm -->
Yep, life stops when you have kids.
Thats why so many working people don't have them.
<!-- end scarcasm -->

I like kids, especially when I get to be a part in making them :eek4:

Originally posted by akashik

I'll grant if our daughter was one of those mad hellion's you see screaming in the supermarket it might be a different story, but she's 51% percent angel.



Hmmmm... So what happens with the other 49% percent? :)

for heavens sake :yawn:

what do you think people do ? women do ?

I ran a home cleaning & gardening agency with 11 workers, went to my 9.00 - 5.00 government job for 3 days a week and brought up 4 kids .. in my spare time I went shopping, carted home food, cooked, cleaned, washed, walked the dog, took kids to the dentist and the car to the garage, grew vegetables, paid the bills and regularly painted the fences lol

nothing unusual , nothing thousands don't do all the time, 24 hours a day, 365 and a quarter days a year

:) no sick pay, no holiday pay, no bonus, no superannuation, no award, no site allowance :stickout

Originally posted by NodeHost
Just the thought of someone typing while feeding a 3 week old baby pissing someone off is off the wall. Come on people, don't we have better things to do with our time than to sit here and bash people because they decided to take a venture into making a business in the hosting world.

Firstly baby feeding is a topic for Martha Stewart forum anyways

Secondly, having an excuse that others have a full time job and give children in daycare for 8 or 10 hours, so you can also feed a baby and type at the same time as well is simply a nonsense...

If you're at home and there's no big boss preventing you to take 10 minutes off, you may as well feed your baby and let your customer wait for ten minutes. Only because you're working in computer (web hosting) related business, doesn't mean multitasking is the ultimate solution to your inability to organise your life.

Thirdly, if you wonder what's wrong having a child and parents at the same time having a demanding job, just look at the world and tell me what you see...

Of course, some parents will manage both with easy, but most likely children will not. If they do, you're the lucky one...

And last but not least: Only because I have different opinion what family suppose to be and how to run business doesn't mean I don't have a clue about either of these two.

Therefore I'm still convinced that teenagers or people with no proper funding and/or resources shouldn't run web hosting business.

Only because something is possible doesn't mean is also the right way of doing it...

And yes, I have a children, and we have a quality time together, every day, every week... As long as they need...

To have a technical expertise is often not enough to run a successful business. For all of you young people out there, without proper management skills you're placing your business and your family at risk of being a disaster for all of the involved.

You don't beleive me? You don't have to. Just answer some of this questions:
How many start-up business survive first year?
What is the divorce rate in your country and reasons for it?
How many single parents have more than one job?
What is the percentage of drug addicts among the teenage population?
Crime rate?
Number of web hosting companies in US?
Number of disgrantled customers posting in WHT?
Are you able to take the weekend off and go camping with your children or your partner?
Are you dreaming of having a lot of customers, which would solve all of your financial problems?
When you started your business, did you know what it takes in terms of time and work invested?
How many times per day you say to your child or partner: "later honey..." or "I'm busy right now"?

I'm still a swingin' bachelor, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but...

It seems to me like someone running a hosting business would spend more time with their family than the average worker. According to that other thread about where you work, it seems like most hosters, even the successful ones, work from a home office.

Who gets to see their kids and wife/husband more often -- someone working a "regular" job (at the office from 8am-5pm everyday), or the average hoster, who spends all of their workday at home?

I agree where if I did not have a couple of outside people hired in to handle evenings and nights, where either the business or family would suffer.

I also agree, what is the difference of running your own business, or getting a full time job with possibly a part time job to make the same amount of money that you can with just the business and doing 40-50 hours a week there, and actually having something to show for it besides a paycheck.

I look at my business as a rock for my son and wife is something should happen. I was blessed with sucess with the business.

Originally posted by FDrive

Who gets to see their kids and wife/husband more often -- someone working a "regular" job (at the office from 8am-5pm everyday), or the average hoster, who spends all of their workday at home?

This is not a help desk. You don't have to shoot out your reply in matter of seconds. You can indeed take some time and think before you reply. Beleive me, it's not against forum rules.

Few questions for you:

How many customers you need to make a nice living, 500, 1000, 10000?
If you ever had few thousands customers, how much work was involved managing the business, especially if you were working alone?
Do you think only because somebody else is in the house you're not alone?
Do you think is right feeding the baby with one hand and wasting time on WHT with another?
While talking to your customer and your child or partner is in the living room, is that the time spending together?
If you're working in home office, does that mean you don't have to organize your tasks?
Would customer be happy knowing, whilst you're answering it's questions that you're also changing your babies diapers?
Are you working more than 8 hours per day?
And if you do work more, isn't so, that there is something wrong with your life?
Sometimes the life hits hard and you simply have to work your butt of, sometimes many years in a raw, but is that the right time to have a baby?
Is it right to use your head while making love?

Working at home doesn't make you automatically a better parent or partner.

Originally posted by NodeHost


I look at my business as a rock for my son and wife is something should happen. I was blessed with sucess with the business.

...and probably this wasn't pure luck but your attitude toward life, family and business. Hopefully more people would take it that way...

Originally posted by Atlonim


You may watch your baby or talk to it instead of hitting stupid keyboard... No wonder if world is turning into s**t...

This is obviously a comment from someone who doesn't have kids.:D

hornsmoker -

Originally posted by hornsmoker


This is obviously a comment from someone who doesn't have kids.:D

hornsmoker -

I'm glad you're so well informed...

Originally posted by Atlonim


This is not a help desk. You don't have to shoot out your reply in matter of seconds. You can indeed take some time and think before you reply. Beleive me, it's not against forum rules.

Few questions for you:

How many customers you need to make a nice living, 500, 1000, 10000?
If you ever had few thousands customers, how much work was involved managing the business, especially if you were working alone?
Do you think only because somebody else is in the house you're not alone?
Do you think is right feeding the baby with one hand and wasting time on WHT with another?
While talking to your customer and your child or partner is in the living room, is that the time spending together?
If you're working in home office, does that mean you don't have to organize your tasks?
Would customer be happy knowing, whilst you're answering it's questions that you're also changing your babies diapers?
Are you working more than 8 hours per day?
And if you do work more, isn't so, that there is something wrong with your life?
Sometimes the life hits hard and you simply have to work your butt of, sometimes many years in a raw, but is that the right time to have a baby?
Is it right to use your head while making love?

Working at home doesn't make you automatically a better parent or partner. I was going to just let this drop and not reply but you are still preaching and still have no clue about kids.

A 3 week old baby sleeps 15 to 20 hours a day most of the time he only wants food and a dry diaper. The hours mine is alert and wants attention he gets 100% from me or my wife and his 2 sisters. In fact the poor kid gets too much attention most of the time. Now my baby happens to be breast feed by my wife all but one or 2 feeds a day. Last night as I was typing and feeding he had just been changed and all he wanted was to eat and sleep he was laying across my lap in that comatose state that babies go to at 3 weeks and was sucking his bottle eyes closed oblivious to anything but his bottle. Like I said if you had kids you would know this. If not you have no clue.

My wife is my partner and we talk all the time, in fact I would bet we talk about more varied topics and have deeper conversations everyday than you are your spouse if your married.

I understand what you are driving at but you are also painting everyone with a pretty wide brush.

I have 2 grown kids that have families of their own and are not drug addicts or bank robbers. I have been around this block once before and done it with success. I have no idea how old you are if you are married, but you seem to think the worlds problems are easily pinned to one reason and I am sorry to tell you this but the world has many problems and over worked parents are just one of them. Before you start calling someone irresponsible I suggest you learn a bit more about life and the person you are talking to.

Originally posted by Monte
I was going to just let this drop and not reply but you are still preaching and still have no clue about kids.

Is that a complaint, because I dare to state my opinion and you feel personally addressed and trying to explain how
everything what you do is perfectly ok? Does the statement, that I "have no clue about kids", makes you feel more competent?

A 3 week old baby sleeps 15 to 20 hours a day most of the time he only wants food and a dry diaper. The hours mine is alert and wants attention he gets 100% from me or my wife and his 2 sisters. In fact the poor kid gets too much attention most of the time. Now my baby happens to be breast feed by my wife all but one or 2 feeds a day. Last night as I was typing and feeding he had just been changed and all he wanted was to eat and sleep he was laying across my lap in that comatose state that babies go to at 3 weeks and was sucking his bottle eyes closed oblivious to anything but his bottle. Like I said if you had kids you would know this. If not you have no clue.

Does that mean all the children are the same? Or even all the people? Or you're trying to say that all the parents with children of different needs have no clues? Trying to prove what a parent you are? You don't have to.

Listen Mr. Monte, telling to the people how are you living your life is one thing, telling others that is perfectly ok to do the same, is another, especially when all the studies, statistics and facts shows, that there is almost 60% chance their family will break.

My wife is my partner and we talk all the time, in fact I would bet we talk about more varied topics and have deeper conversations everyday than you are your spouse if your married.

I couldn't care less about your conversation topics, nor I would bet on unknown facts. Do not gamble your happy marriage away...


I understand what you are driving at but you are also painting everyone with a pretty wide brush.

Obviously you do not understand. What works for you will not work for the great majority of others.

I have 2 grown kids that have families of their own and are not drug addicts or bank robbers. I have been around this block once before and done it with success. I have no idea how old you are if you are married, but you seem to think the worlds problems are easily pinned to one reason and I am sorry to tell you this but the world has many problems and over worked parents are just one of them. Before you start calling someone irresponsible I suggest you learn a bit more about life and the person you are talking to.

If you would understand the problem of the devaluation of family life in todays world, you would also understand that the most world problems are caused by it, because family was and still is the basic cell of our society.

I am also asking you to avoid questioning whether I'm married and have children or not, because if you would read my posts before you answer them you would know...

Seems to me like you could put the entire family to work on the web hosting business. Even the babies. They could be compiling the latest version of apache while you do the billing.

Altonim - Give Monte a break. He's probably a great parent. Your pessimistic diatribe is really quite unncessary. You don't even know him; thus there's no reason to attack his parenting skills in a public forum.

Originally posted by Jay Suds
Altonim - Give Monte a break. He's probably a great parent. Your pessimistic diatribe is really quite unncessary. You don't even know him; thus there's no reason to attack his parenting skills in a public forum.

Dear Jay

What you spell as "pessimistic", I spell as realistic.

True, I don't know him, but he claims he knows me.

If I remember right, Monte published his parental skills in public forum without anybody forcing him into it, therefore his skills are open for discussion.

If he feels deeply offended by my post, he can report it to the moderators and if I crossed the line, the posts will be deleted or thread closed.

To me, it's about balancing business with family. Yes, I've done the 16 hour days away from the family and it takes a toll on your relationships with your children and wife.

The internet offered the "dream" of building an international business from the comfort of wherever you damn well please. I could be working from my laptop on my boat at the moment. I could be at the office or working from the home office. It's all good!! :D

The internet offered the "dream" of building an international business from the comfort of wherever you damn well please. I could be working from my laptop on my boat at the moment. I could be at the office or working from the home office. It's all good!!

Yes, I would have to agree with Aussie Bob. At no other time in History has there been the opportunity for the humble individual to build a world wide business from the comfort of their own home or whatever as there is now. The Internet has opened the "pandoras box" and offered opportunities never before available! :)

MAX POWER :homer:

Let me get this straight, so Monte works from home, helps feed his kid, and all that good stuff, and this is bad?

Oh hell, that's right he's supposed to go to some faceless office 8 hours a day while his wife stays home and takes care of the kid!

Atlonim, your diatribe against the man is just about the silliest thing I've read in ages. So because he works from home and actually takes part in his kids he's screwing up? Because of people like him the divorce rate is high? Bull. Sounds to me like he's got a pretty damned good thing going.

Just because someone runs a business that's successful and does it from home means they somehow have LESS time for their family than someone who works 9-5? Man there's a leap of logic here somewhere that'd make Superman scared of heights.

Atlonim

I think your history is very important since you are claiming to have all the answers to lifes problems and espouding on what will solve all the worlds ills. As far as I know you could be a 15 year old kid with no life experience under your belt, which I suspect you are.

So how old are you? Are you married? How many kids? How old are they? Do you work? Does your spouse? What is your education background?

If you are going to spout it back it up..

this thread is about the biggest joke I have ever seen......
what is this nonsense about having a family and not being able to run a business......i know a great deal of great families that run very successful businesses........

When there is a family to feed, the business gets taken a little more seriously.......

and Monte, you do have it good.....I hope that in the future I can hang with my kids while working....

cheers

And in case you don't understand it this will explain it.

Your Clothes
1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN
confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

Preparing for the Birth
1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don't bother practicing because you remember that last
time, breathing didn't do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.

The Layette
1st baby: You pre-wash your newborn's clothes, color-coordinate them, and fold them neatly in the baby's little bureau.
2nd baby: You check to make sure that the clothes are clean and discard only the ones with the darkest stains.
3rd baby: Boys can wear pink, can't they?

Worries
1st baby: At the first sign of distress-a whimper, a frown-you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Pacifier (Dummy)
1st baby: If the pacifier falls on the floor, you put it away until you can go home and wash and boil it.
2nd baby: When the pacifier falls on the floor, you squirt it off with some juice from the baby's bottle.
3rd baby: You wipe it off on your shirt and pop it back in.

Diapering / Nappy Changing
1st baby: You change your baby's diapers/nappies every hour, whether they need it or not.
2nd baby: You change their diaper/nappy every 2 to 3 hours, if needed.
3rd baby: You try to change their diaper/nappy before others start to complain about the smell or you see it sagging to their knees.

Activities
1st baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics, Baby Swing, and Baby Story Hour.
2nd baby: You take your infant to Baby Gymnastics.
3rd baby: You take your infant to the supermarket and the dry cleaner.

Going Out
1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home
1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of everyday watching to be sure your older child isn't squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.
3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Swallowing Coins
1st child: when first child swallows a coin, you rush the child to the hospital and demand x-rays.
2nd child: when 2nd child swallows a coin, you carefully watch for coin to pass.
3rd child: when 3rd child swallows a coin you deduct it from his allowance!!



:D :D :D :)

Monte....How old are YOU? Are you 35, 25, 40? When you get to my age you are allowed to make descisions! :stickout ;)

MAX POWER :homer:

OMG!!! I'm dying now...can't breathe...... :D I only have 2 kids, but that joke is right on the money. *gasps for a little more air*

Well, even though I'm one of those (stupid/bad/idiotic/whatever) people who have kids AND run a business (3 of them, actually), I feel like I have a pretty sweet deal.

We've been blessed with my wife staying home, so if anything, my kids get too much attention and are probably a little spoiled. Oh well, they're good kids...mostly. ;)


Oh, and just as a note Altonim, your opinions are making you real flame bait around here. Also, just because you think that something is bad, doesn't make it so...so chill out with the big 'A'.

what is this ?

kiddies versus oldies ?

singles versus marrieds ?

childless versus kids ?

Like all activities in life, business is all about time management and it takes maturity to aquire the organisational skills to manage all of the aspects of your life fairly

and there's no miraculous X-marks-the-spot birthday that gives us maturity

what is this ?

kiddies versus oldies ?

singles versus marrieds ?

childless versus kids ?

Like all activities in life, business is all about time management and it takes maturity to aquire the organisational skills to manage all of the aspects of your life fairly

and there's no miraculous X-marks-the-spot birthday that gives us maturity

Good onya Susannad! Well said, but be careful or it will turn into a men against woman or visa versa thingy. :stickout ;)

Wow! I started this thread and had no idea the direction it would take, but I don't think it's silly and I enjoy reading other people's viewpoints.

Some of you may have misunderstood my original post. I was talking about running a hosting company ALONE. That business is 24/7/365 or should be. It doesn't compare to most other jobs.

It seems that most people here who run a hosting business have other people to help them out with their hosting business, and that is great. They are lucky because not all of us have family members who are able to help out.

This thread has helped me to understand (and that was the intention of this thread) that circumstances vary. Some people that run hosting companies may have more people to help, have less server problems, less support requests, better health, better skills, etc.

That said, I still say that no matter how good you are at time management, there are only 24 hours in a day, and you CAN'T cram 48 hours into it, no matter how hard you try. No one can juggle everything and be efficient at it.

Further, it's worth noting that many married folk with careers that take up most all of their time, later end up divorced, and kids that resent them... as well as resenting themselves later in life for not spending more time with their family. So, at least get help, and don't try to work the hosting business alone 24/7/365, or stay single.

AussieBob made a good point. Some internet businesses have given many people MORE time with their family, and that's a good thing.

P.S. Altonim made some good points too. I think some of you are taking this thread personally, and shouldn't be.

Just like a Chris to go and stir up ****. :D

Originally posted by GlideTech
Just like a Chris to go and stir up ****. :D

LOL. Actually, I was hoping to gain insight, and that is what has occurred. Stirring up things is not bad, though. That's one good way to learn things. I know it doesn't make you popular, but I refuse to be a "yes man" and be stagnant.

PS I'm really doing a front temporal lobe comparison between WHT members. :)

It's actually a good discussion with some interesting points raised by most concerned. :) Our client level is 200+ and in all honesty, sometimes there's not that much to do. Maybe that's why I can spend so much time here with you good folks. :D

A great asset is to have an excellent Knowledge base [KB] or FAQ with pictures etc. I have folks email me and say that they just followed the articles in the KB and all went well. They teach themselves. It cuts down on a lot of support, saves us money and frees up our time. Our KB is not where I want it to be, but it's on the right track.

I love this business. :D

Originally posted by Aussie Bob

I love this business. :D

You aren't alone there ;)

Bob, if you don't stop promoting yourself, I think I'm going to puke. :)

At least, they don't let you plaster your pic all over this forum. :)

It sounds to me like Altonin may be blaming his lack of success both professionally and personally on his family obligation.

Work is a fact of life. How does a child learn a good work ethic, from watching, and later emulating the actions of his parents. I think that if we read our history, we will find many excellent examples of working parent that also raised fantastic children.

Just a thought...

hmm... as soon as i got to the last page of this thread.. i thought i was in the webhostingtalk lounge :D

Originally posted by chrisb
Bob, if you don't stop promoting yourself, I think I'm going to puke. :)

At least, they don't let you plaster your pic all over this forum. :)
lol. Don't know about self promotion. I was just giving some insight into how I can balance family and business, which is what this thread was all about. No big deal. :D

It wasn't meant as a flame, Bob. I was just kidding.

Anyway, looks like this thread is almost as popular as the TV series, but hopefully more intelligent.

Originally posted by chrisb
It wasn't meant as a flame, Bob. I was just kidding.
I knew that. :D
Anyway, looks like this thread is almost as popular as the TV series, but hopefully more intelligent.
Maybe just ;)

Originally posted by NodeHost
This thread must of been started by a teenager trying to prove a point that they are better than the older people that actually have a life beyond Internet.


When I read the first post I thought the *exact* same thing. Hmmmm...

Just to throw in my thoughts on the original question, I would rather be hosted by someone like Monte or Aussie Bob who have the motivation of keeping the kids fed and clothed to keep the business at it's best rather than some kid who is only able to handle things after school and other activities and may drop the whole idea at any time when the wind blows.

I don' t have anything against young entrepreneurs. I admire them. It's just that I would not put my life completely in their hands until they have proven themselves. I would use them to host a personal/hobby site, not my business. Many of them do deserve a shot to prove themselves and get experience.

To be fair, there are a lot of adults I wouldn't trust my lemonade stand with.

Without even reading all of the comments I have to say that the subject of this thread is totally stupid. I have a wife, 3 kids, own a retail store, and a web hosting company. If I did not own two businesses I'd still have a wife and 3 kids, and I'd still have to do a job.

Since we have a retail business we of course have a storefront. This storefront also provides us with the office space to run our web hosting business, so I get up in the morning and I go to work. I don't sit at home at a computer and run my business with the wife and kids running around.

Just my 2 cents worth

Originally posted by EzHost
Without even reading all of the comments I have to say that the subject of this thread is totally stupid. I have a wife, 3 kids, own a retail store, and a web hosting company. If I did not own two businesses I'd still have a wife and 3 kids, and I'd still have to do a job.

Since we have a retail business we of course have a storefront. This storefront also provides us with the office space to run our web hosting business, so I get up in the morning and I go to work. I don't sit at home at a computer and run my business with the wife and kids running around.

Just my 2 cents worth

I'll say it again. The hosting business is 24/7, not comparable to a retail business. You missed the point of the thread. It is not about whether one should work and support their family. It is about whether people should go with a one-person hosting operation who is married and may or may not have children. IOW, a one-person show with family responsibilities.

Originally posted by NoelRock


When I read the first post I thought the *exact* same thing. Hmmmm...
I disagree. chrisb is not a teenager and the question was legitimate and spawned some good discussion.

Originally posted by Aussie Bob

I disagree. chrisb is not a teenager and the question was legitimate and spawned some good discussion.

Thanks Bob. In some ways, I wish I were a teenager, but on second thought I'd have to relive some things I'd care not to.

It's a abit ironic, though. When I was 12, I wrote an article for my church newsletter. Church members told me that it was too mature of a point of view, and that there was no way that I wrote it. They asked me to reveal the real author, which I already had... me. They printed the article; but never did believe that I wrote it. And now that I'm 49, people think that I write like a teenager. I think I'll take that as a compliment. :)

ChrisB
No where in your original post did you ask about "one person hosting operation". You asked if someone could have a wife and kids, and run a web hosting company.

First of all, my point in mentioning a store-front was just to try and say anyone can do anything if they work hard at it. We run two very successful businesses, and have a very successful family so to speak.

Our web hosting company is not a one man operation. We have a full staff of local sales professionals, as well as a billing department, and support staff.

We offer 72+ hours of REAL phone support a week...and I stress REAL because most of the companies who list a phone number you never really get anyone to answer the phone.

We offer 24/7/365 email support.

I just don't understand the question I guess. But then maybe a hard working man with a wife and 3 kids, cannot understand such simple questions, since they also cannot have a job either.