Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : Drop in orders - Is it worth it anymore?

[MH-2006]

I have ran << my web hosting company >> since September 2006 and we've never been a big company, we've always ran with a small number of client on a budget server and had a more personal touch with our customers - that's what we're about - keeping customers for the long term and keeping them happy.

Unfortunately, recently, we've had a few big orders cancelled because of people just not wanting our services anymore. We haven't given them a bad service, they just have finished their online presence or outgrown our services etc.

This has left me with a problem. Because we've always been about keeping clients for the long term, we've never promoted our services enough to get a sustainable client base for the long term and this month we're only going to cover about 30% of our costs which isn't good!

I really need to get this business back on track. I can't afford to put my own money into it to keep it going for much longer, but I don't want to let my customers down, especially those who are on yearly packages.

I've advertised across numerous forums and tried to get business through that way, but nothing. We haven't had a single order this month, and just one last. I've tried creating a Facebook page to help get the word out and paying for Facebook to place my ads on pages, but this has just got 80-something likes of completely irrelevant people.

I really need some advice here. How can I get the word out and get a few yearly orders to keep my business afloat? I love running this company and have had some great fun, but my personal funds cannot be poured into the business to keep it going.

Suggestions are welcome - I'd really appreciate some advice from some of you guys who are more established! :-)

[stablehost]

Eh, we have tons of customers cancel every month because they don't need web hosting anymore. It's just the nature of the business, it's not like power or water where you need it the rest of your life.

You can't expect a customer to stay with you more than 2 years.

[farhan713]

Originally Posted by nerdie

Eh, we have tons of customers cancel every month because they don't need web hosting anymore. It's just the nature of the business, it's not like power or water where you need it the rest of your life.

You can't expect a customer to stay with you more than 2 years.

why would someone leave after 2 years unless they shut down their site?

[stablehost]

That's exactly why they leave, most people lose interest by then

[cala2ar]

or they just go to a free hoster with a site builder or something...

[zomgmike]

You can try tossing in a free domain when prepaying annually. If you can't increase revenue, you might be able to keep cash flow positive by reducing your infrastructure costs. With fewer customers, you may be able to reduce that and keep your costs per customer the same?

[cd/home]

Business Plan & Marketing Plan at the ready?

[Daryl]

While I understand your focus of having customers for the long haul, your Business Plan should include a provision to increase revenue month over month (M/M), quarter over quarter (Q/Q) and year over year (Y/Y) - after all this is what Business is all about.

I find a good way of getting long term clients where you can also increase your margin by 10x fold is by reaching out to your local market. A face to the name is always a good thing and gives Small Business Owners the confidence of dealing with a Company especially someone locally. On top of this you can charge a Premium as well because chances are they're hosting with their local ISP where hosting costs a minimum of $15/month for a couple hundred MB's of data and 1GB of data with limited email accounts etc etc, everything over this costs $$$.

Just my $0.02

[gordonrp]

Sounds like you're running this like a hobby, not a business, time to shut down and move on, it's a waste of your time.

[evocart]

I really like your site, but couldnt find an address, phone number and there is no live help, ok you dont need all three but two out of three would have been nice.

Also the prices seem to be very good - maybe too good to be true. Definatly has a lot of potential but you need to make sure everything is right, I also noticed three of the links in your sites footer is not working. Also your copyright could do with updating 2012

Also have you tried offering some kind of special deal on here?

[private_html]

I think, web hosting will be around for ever, the problem is, its hard for smaller companies to compete with the bigger ones mostly because they have the money to advertise...

ive looked at your website, it looks nice, i wouldnt give up, but i would change the way you do things, try to get more clients...

[evocart]

Originally Posted by private_html

i wouldnt give up, but i would change the way you do things, try to get more clients...

I agree, keep going if your heart is in it but concolidate your resources so its not costing you so much to run, you can always restore services as you need them.

[raindog308]

Originally Posted by cd/home

Business Plan & Marketing Plan at the ready?

What does that mean?

Anyone can write a business plan...the trick is having the right strategies inside it

[Wullie]

Originally Posted by cd/home

Business Plan & Marketing Plan at the ready?

A good business plan will change as you go, especially considering they are now 6 years in business.

Originally Posted by hostmyshop

I also noticed three of the links in your sites footer is not working. Also your copyright could do with updating 2012

If that page has not been edited since 2011, the date is correct. It is not supposed to be today's date, it is supposed to be the last date edited.

Originally Posted by MH-2006

I really need some advice here. How can I get the word out and get a few yearly orders to keep my business afloat? I love running this company and have had some great fun, but my personal funds cannot be poured into the business to keep it going.

You hope you can get a few annual plans to tide you over but you have admitted you are in a sinking ship and may not be able to support customers for a full year? That is nothing but irresponsible.

Also, personally I think you just screwed any chance of your business surviving. You posted on a public forum stating that you are having money problems and listed your domain name. What made you think that was a good idea?

Post about problems, sure. Do not ever post them with your signature enabled and listing your company URL so it will be searchable in Google.

Why should anyone trust your business now when they are likely to find out that you may be going under?

[CD Burnt]

Originally Posted by MH-2006

this month we're only going to cover about 30% of our costs

how long have you not been covering your costs?