Hi,

A friend of mine today said 'Theres no point in beginners starting up in the webhosting industry because they are eaten up by oversellers'.

What do you think about this comment?

I personally think that anyone can still set-up in the webhosting industry, as long as they have the funds to keep going and the right advertising methods.

Let me know what you think and prove my friend wrong ;)

- Danny.

Its still possible, but you need the time,knowledge and funding to do it.

Sure finding a "niche" is the best way but there will always be a need for quality hosts and you only have to look here at people unhappy with the "oversellers".

But it is not a qet rich quick scheme as some younger people (and some older) might think.

Your friend had a good point, in that alot of hosts are overselling, however, more and more people are looking at quality vs. quantity... A good way to get started is to target a specific niche, or even advertise locally.

Providing good support should in turn give you some good reviews, which is really why the aim should be customer satisfaction :)

I agree with your friend.
I would put an emphasis on the word "beginners".

Regardless of how people want to feel this is a technical field and it requires some level of technical experience.

Let's change your statement to a different technical field, "I personally think that anyone can still set-up in the brain surgery business, as long as they have the funds to keep going and the right advertising methods."

That probably sounds a little bit unrealistic to most people, because they understand that being a brain surgeon takes years and years of extensive training and experience not simply money and willpower.

Ok, so switching back to hosting... most people who get into hosting with the "I have the money and willpower" mentality are simple resellers.

The problem with resellers (without their own technical expertise) in the hosting market is that the main way they can compete is on cost, and this becomes a huge problem because there's always going to be someone else willing to take less of a profit margin or possibly even take a loss.

You end up with hosts driving prices lower and lower, or other hosts having to oversell their services to try and compete.

It's possibly unfortunate, but a sad fact that many customers when looking for hosting will simply choose whoever offers the most for the cheapest price.

I mean, how hard is it to look in the Web Hosting Forum and seeing someone new complaining about [insert random big name host here]. I look at those posts and think, "duh. You obviously didn't bother reading any reviews and simply got suckered in by price and oversold offering."

So, again yes. I think it is pointless for a "beginner" to try to get into the hosting market.

To make money in the hosting market you need to be adding value.

Too many hosts startup with the "business" being more of a hobby.
You end up with hosts who are ran by minors, or people who have no technical understanding of how to fix problems in an emergency. They don't look at hosting as being as important as brain surgery. (That's understandable when you're talking about small mom and pop personal websites... but that's exactly the type of site a small beginner should avoid. You only make money on those types of sites when you're dealing in huge volume.)

I think that the conditions are perfect for those people who want a challenge. It's not easy, but it's doable. You will learn a lot in the process, and, if you succeed (in doing the impossible), you will have a hardened shell that will protect you for the rest of your days.

Hi,

A friend of mine today said 'Theres no point in beginners starting up in the webhosting industry because they are eaten up by oversellers'.

What do you think about this comment?

I personally think that anyone can still set-up in the web hosting industry, as long as they have the funds to keep going and the right advertising methods.

Let me know what you think and prove my friend wrong ;)

- Danny.
A web hosting business is not about selling disk space and mass marketing. If you really enjoy what you do and take it one step at a time you might surprise yourself and be successful. If you are here to find out how to become the next big mass seller then I think you will fail like so many others who have tried.

This market is saturated with companies that make their profits by overselling. However, that does not mean that the industry is closed; it simply means that things are become more difficult and more expensive. If you want to start a hosting company, the first thing you need is money. If you can provide clients with affordable, reliable, non-oversold hosting, your company will grow. People are soon going to learn that overselling is not the way to go, except with a few of these oversellers who are careful in what they do.

This market is saturated with companies that make their profits by overselling. However, that does not mean that the industry is closed; it simply means that things are become more difficult and more expensive. If you want to start a hosting company, the first thing you need is money. If you can provide clients with affordable, reliable, non-oversold hosting, your company will grow. People are soon going to learn that overselling is not the way to go, except with a few of these oversellers who are careful in what they do.

:agree: Overselling is not the be all and end all of hosting. It all depends on the clientèle you wish to attached. Anyone who is serious and professional about there hosting will spend extra money to have good service on a non-oversaturate server.

People seem to have an unrealistic view of a web hosting start up company. This isn't 3-5 years ago. You Need to spend money on advertising to gain exposure and grow your client base. Chances are you have nothing to begin with, no sales leads, leads no sales no revenue and expenses. Plus to make it more challenging you're a fly by night guy you are the technician, sales operator, and manager. Not an easy task at all and while you can outsource various business functions you also increase your overhead. You will run at a loss for at least one and more realistically several years.

Aggression:

You have to come to the market it won't come to you. If you don't have the passion for the ferocity and mental anguish that comes with extreme competition this isn't the industry for you.

Negotiations:

Are you skilled in this area. Can you get rock bottom prices on what you need? Your competition can and they'll use that advantage to run you into the ground.

People seem to have an unrealistic view of a web hosting start up company. This isn't 3-5 years ago. You Need to spend money on advertising to gain exposure and grow your client base. Chances are you have nothing to begin with, no sales leads, leads no sales no revenue and expenses. Plus to make it more challenging you're a fly by night guy you are the technician, sales operator, and manager. Not an easy task at all and while you can outsource various business functions you also increase your overhead. You will run at a loss for at least one and more realistically several years.

Aggression:

You have to come to the market it won't come to you. If you don't have the passion for the ferocity and mental anguish that comes with extreme competition this isn't the industry for you.

Negotiations:

Are you skilled in this area. Can you get rock bottom prices on what you need? Your competition can and they'll use that advantage to run you into the ground.

:clap: Very well said!

I think it is still very possible to start one up. You should def advertise at one Niche like being said above, but you need to make sure that you can offer the things needed.

Also what is loved and wanted by todays clients is good and blazing support, and fast people who are not out sourced to India. Just saying no offense, but if you can offer this as well as a tight nit community. Then it is very well possible for people want that home help feel instead of that hard to get support type. See?

I originally started by hosting sites for friends and family members and was getting "referrals" by word of mouth. I decided to start an actual company and focus my efforts. It's not been "easy" but has been very rewarding for me.

Back in 97/98 I was looking at starting a web hosting company but at the time I did not have the time/capital to invest in a new business - I wasn't wanting to start it to make a quick buck but because it was something I genuinely wanted to do.

We entered the market quite a bit later and the market is very saturated with $0.99 per year for 100tb space and 500tb bandwidth or unlimited this unlimited that. Generally all of our customers we have gained via the internet have come from such companies to us due to the "low quality of customer service" or other issues that generally come with such services.

It's not easy, but it's doable and if it's something you genuinely want to do it can be very rewarding for you as well.