Hi.

I noticed that there are quite a few web hosting business owners active in this forum and I thought this would be a great opportunity to ask you guys a question.

I would very much like to know which are the top 3 problems your web hosting business experiences? e.g. not enough clients or profits, insufficient time etc.

I thought it would be good to find out about them directly from those who are experiencing them.

I believe it would also be good for everyone to find out what problems might be waiting around the corner. :uhh:

Thank you.

Dan Lemnaru

Top 1 Problem:

NOTE: I can't say client base is a problem, because it isn't. My current client base can pay off most of my expenses.

I can only think of one right, maybe later I can come up with more. The thing is, I can't say I have too many problems, as everything is paying off for everything else.

1) You can't please everyone: If you have cPanel, then you don't have Windows. If you have Windows, then you don't have cPane. If you have ________, then you don't have ________. The list goes on forever. You just can please everyone you want to. If I could, my customer base would be 10x what it is now. ;)

1. Having an IP blocked by an admin that relies on nothing factual. (pet peeve)

2. Finding enough hours in a day.

3. A sore bum.


[Edit]

People posting at the same time as you on forums.

See below.



:D

1) nickel companies - i'm talking about the companies that provide everything for a nickel in hopes of getting rich quick (tacidhost, shaghost, earhost, etc).

2) nickel customers - the customers that want everything for a nickel(or free) and expect to get it from me...

3) dead time - i've got nothing to do :( no support tickets in nearly a week now....i dunno if that's a good thing or bad thing, but im bored.....


edit: that's twice today dennis...it's not fair if you post shorter messages :angry:

To add on...

2) Lack of support issues: I get bored quite easily. And with so few support issues, I get bored very quickly. Either I dream of the day when I receive fifty support tickets in one hour, or I dread of it.

Lack of support tickets?

You're crazy.... that's when you need to open up battlefield 1942, counter strike, q3 cpam, or whatever you like :D

Originally posted by clockwork
Lack of support tickets?

You're crazy.... that's when you need to open up battlefield 1942, counter strike, q3 cpam, or whatever you like :D

Nah, not when you are on this POS laptop. I would 10x rather respond to support issues rather than wait a half an hour for a good game to load. (Err....that's at least what I think I think. :rolleyes: )

Thank you guys for replying so fast. I can't wait to find out more.

It's so nice when a forum is populated.

Respectfully,

Dan Lemnaru

>>1. Having an IP blocked by an admin that relies on nothing factual. (pet peeve)

What does this mean? Is there a solid list of IPs that _should_ be blocked?

Hardest thing is designing/maintaining a good website that will help you stand out and not just make you another host.

One problem we have is that we are not as big as Verio. :D (Just joking)

:)

Spammers, having ips blocked because someone spammed, malicious scripts, dos attacks.

Originally posted by SplashHost.com
Spammers, having ips blocked because someone spammed, malicious scripts, dos attacks.
He said "Having an IP blocked by an admin that relies on nothing factual".

1. Managing growth
2. Explaining to customers that they have to wait until their dns propagates.
3. sore bum - as already stated

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue
1. Having an IP blocked by an admin that relies on nothing factual. (pet peeve)

2. Finding enough hours in a day.

3. A sore bum.


[Edit]

People posting at the same time as you on forums.

See below.



:D

a sore bum, bwahahah, nice one softwarerevue ;)

1. i'm not US resedint so:
1.a. I can not offer toll free number, i belive that fast email/ticket response is good also, but 800- number in front page have another effect on customers.
1.b. Can not accept wire orders, a lot of low-cost customers not have credit cards.

2. SPEWS, i noticed they become Block ranges of IPs ( not single IP) , changing server's main IP works ... but ...

3. get trusted support staff


Customer's base not a problem with low-cost hosts, i'm really enjoy watching my customer's base growing.

Originally posted by dandanfirema
2. Explaining to customers that they have to wait until their dns propagates.

Same problem to me although in our welcome email we explain it 2 times.

WoW. It's the coolest place. I wouldn'd have guessed in a million years that I'll get this amount of replies.

You guys are great. And the info you're providing is both surprising and invaluable.

I'm happy (and stunned) to see for example that the number of clients is not a top concern.

I'll go to bed now. I can't wait to see what you'll say next though.

Thanks for taking time to answer my question.

Dan Lemnaru

1. need new comfy chair
2. need sleep
3. can't sleep..need to keep customer happy:bawling:

Originally posted by gilsgreat
>>1. Having an IP blocked by an admin that relies on nothing factual. (pet peeve)

What does this mean? Is there a solid list of IPs that _should_ be blocked? The idiocies that hide in places like spews.org and others that sell lists of IPs to ban. You can't really fault the person for selling the list. But, I sure can fault the person that relies on it. :angry:

1. Always being paranoid that something will break. (It hasn't yet, but by God, it could. :D)
2. Customers who want lots of things that you don't offer - and not being able to help them.
3. Trying to figure out good ways to advertise. I have had slow steady growth, but I am looking forward to being swamped. :D

1. Chasing down unpaid/late clients and those who generally rip you off in one form or another.

2. Client management software that up and dies (thank goodness there is enough of a paper trail - cheers to those who will fall through that crack)

3. Advertising (I lack the ability to be very creative and the funds to borrow someone else's creative talents)

Those are the three big ones at this time for the business, next week they may be different :)

recent hassles....

1) telco bandwidth wrangling

2) Miva

3) spammers - or more accurately, antispam zealots

4) managing growth

#1 finding reliable staff
#2 trying to keep up to date on the latest sploitz
#3 trying to find a way to get 6 hours of sleep between 3 am and 6 am.