Hi,

I've been looking around this place for quite a long time now. Not really saying anything, just watching. I really would like to start a small reselling business. Enough to make some money and have fun, but not too much to get out of hand, and I can't help all of my users enough.

I've been hosted on shared servers for years now. Many of the companies I have been hosted with have had wonderful service. Many only replied during the daytime hours which was completely understandable, and was fine by me.

I have a few questions before I enter this crazy realm:

1. Support- Do I need to be able to provide 24 hour support neccesarrily?

2. Knowledge- I know the basics of webhosting and websites, but not complete, in-depth knowledge of cgi, php, or sql, which would all be included in the services I would be offering. At other companies I have had questions about these subjects answered promtly. Do I need to learn about all of these before I start reselling to better serve my customers?

3. Marketing- How do I get started with my first customers? Where can I find customers without paying for advertising?

4. Business- Do I need to Incorporate or anythign and be an actual business, or can I run it all myself?

Any suggestions, or suggested reading would be more than appreciated. Thanks.


-ryan

Hi:

1. Well the majority of hosts do as if you are in the hosting business and have clients all around the world they may be awake when the US is sleeping and vice versa (unless you only cater to local areas)

2. It would be nice to know about them beforehand, but with a reseller account a lot of the basic questions you will learn to answer with responses from the company you buy reselling services from

3. The first customers are always hard, then it becomes word of mouth. You can find new customers potentially by targeting your local area with cheap local advertising campaigns....

4. In the beginning you can do it as a sole proprietership, then consult a lawyer for other options as you grow

Hope this helps

Thanks, that helps a lot.. Anyone else?



-ryan

1. Support- Do I need to be able to provide 24 hour support neccesarrily?

I'd say no. Many people don't provide 24 hour support, however it owuld be beneficial to both you and your customers to have a way to get you in case of emergencies. General support can be handled via non-24 hour support, however don't claim you offer 24 hour support when you don't.

It somewhat depends on your customers. If my customers can't get me via email, they have my #'s so they can call. They aren't the most demanding bunch, so less understanding clients would be a bit more needy. There's no one answer.

2. Knowledge- I know the basics of webhosting and websites, but not complete, in-depth knowledge of cgi, php, or sql, which would all be included in the services I would be offering. At other companies I have had questions about these subjects answered promtly. Do I need to learn about all of these before I start reselling to better serve my customers?

No, but you should at least have the knowledge of where to find the answers. This is actually more important than knowing everything. Forums such as this are good to have in your back pocket, as are sites for mySQL and apache, which you can search for information. Google, etc. Chances are, someone, somewhere, has had the same problem or there is documentation on the issue.

3. Marketing- How do I get started with my first customers? Where can I find customers without paying for advertising?

Word of mouth. In addition to local advertising, who do you know locally that you might be able to talk to? businesses, organizations, chambers of commerce. All of these are free or low cost and may open the doors for you.

4. Business- Do I need to Incorporate or anythign and be an actual business, or can I run it all myself?

Agree, DBA works for a good amount of time. Mainly you'll want to explore other options for tax purposes (filing income on your personal return won't get you the lowest tax rate than other forms of business).

Any suggestions on places I can go ahead and look at to use for support?


-ryan