I have seen many people post about Dedicated Servers and VPS plan promotions under advertisements. But I wonder if they get their servers/slots filled just by the orders they received from WHM alone? Is it possible to start a hosting business just by leasing a Dedicated Server with Virtuozzo or some VM software, and start rolling with VPS plans?

What are the things to look for and deal with payment integrations, subscription managements, and support tickets, etc...

And another question in doubt is that is it still really a profitable business for a oneman-show offshore company leasing a dedicated server from existing providers from US and managing everything online only? How much profit factor we are talking about on one physical server or two. And what is the entry investment we have to deal with to cover the business up and running for quite sometime let alone quite profitable or not.

I have seen many people post about Dedicated Servers and VPS plan promotions under advertisements. But I wonder if they get their servers/slots filled just by the orders they received from WHM alone?
Talking from experience no, you will need to advertise elsewhere.

Is it possible to start a hosting business just by leasing a Dedicated Server with Virtuozzo or some VM software, and start rolling with VPS plans?
Yes it is possible. But try to start off small unless you have a few customers already.

What are the things to look for and deal with payment integrations, subscription managements, and support tickets, etc...
You will need good software that is able to do all that for you, WHMAutopilot, WHMCS are a few... there are more, just search the forum.

And another question in doubt is that is it still really a profitable business for a oneman-show offshore company leasing a dedicated server from existing providers from US and managing everything online only?
Yes It could be profitable, this is how many hosting businesses started, I know I did. ;)

How much profit factor we are talking about on one physical server or two. And what is the entry investment we have to deal with to cover the business up and running for quite sometime let alone quite profitable or not.
That is a hard question to answer, there are too many variables, cost of server, cost of your plans, etc….

I know it’s a bit vague, but the best way is to have a plan and then test the waters with a small reseller account, this way it won’t cost you as much as a server and it will be fewer headaches as well.

Dawizz gave a great answer here. My only advice, don't get into the web hosting business because you have stars in your eyes or some great notion that you will be financially independant and wealthy in 6 months. This is a tough business as I'm sure you will find out by reading through this forum.

Geeks can be so cruel!!

Geeks can be so cruel!!

Customers can be worse :)

However I love each and every one of my customers! They're all great!

Dawizz gave a great answer here. My only advice, don't get into the web hosting business because you have stars in your eyes or some great notion that you will be financially independant and wealthy in 6 months. This is a tough business as I'm sure you will find out by reading through this forum.

That's very true. I am not seeing stars in my sight but rather seeing a long curvy road ahead. I want to do it as side business and want to know about the web hosting industry. But well, I don't want to run a business that would lead to a loss. Everything has to start from small and with the initial first leap.


Geeks can be so cruel!!


That would be true, but not every geeks means business, and not every business model relies on geeks alone. It needs a balance between being geeky and being a role model. Otherwise, geeky would simply turns out being cocky and egoist rather than a useful being on earth.

Talking from experience no, you will need to advertise elsewhere.

What are the typical online considerations for the advertisements when doesn't have any customer locally yet or doesn't have any particular niche market. Especially, expectation to get customers solely online rather than locally. Does the market model should involve Google Adwords and Yahoo since the beginning or it can be done at later time? How was the typical marketing campaign achieved for a small startup?


You will need good software that is able to do all that for you, WHMAutopilot, WHMCS are a few... there are more, just search the forum.

Which are the most popular and widely used ones out of the many which is best suited for automation? I have noticed about WHMAutopilot, anything else better than that or second to it?

Just to be putting more things to consider, below is the initial idea that I have in thoughts.
1.) A server from TP or a like
2.) Virtuozzo license, WHM AutoPilot
3.) SW or PSM to add secondary hands to assist on server
4.) Marketing campaign

Do point me out if I miss something here or having a wrong direction.

Just to be putting more things to consider, below is the initial idea that I have in thoughts.
1.) A server from TP or a like.
I would suggest a reseller account first, reseller account say $30p/m, or server $200+ per month plus knowing what you are doing. Updating the server, patching, securing and the list goes on, its not all doom and gloom.
2.) Virtuozzo license, WHM AutoPilot.
I used WHMAuto about a year ago, I tried WHMCS and now use WHMCS.

4.) Marketing campaign
Do point me out if I miss something here or having a wrong direction.

Google Adwords Yahoo and alike, for us the best form of advertising was and still is, word of mouth. I am not too sure if there is a typical marketing campaign that works for all??
It depends on where you want your client base from and who you are targeting.

I don't know much about the automation tools .But had a chance to explore WHMCS.I feel it is a good
one for automation.It has so many options,for billing support everything.

Yes I played with WHMCS for days and I was very impressed..

Google Adwords Yahoo and alike, for us the best form of advertising was and still is, word of mouth. I am not too sure if there is a typical marketing campaign that works for all??
It depends on where you want your client base from and who you are targeting.

Basically saying, I don't have targeted clients locally since I want to run this second business totally online without involving any offline activities. So, basically, I assume it would surely need online advertisements and ad campaigns. However, I don't have much clues how the similar business alike deal with online advertisements and ad campaigns.