Results 1 to 17 of 17
  1. #1

    * Average Amount of Profit on Server

    About how much is the average amount of *profit* on a server. yes, i did say average, not 100$ or 10,000$..

    I am looking for the average amount of profit on a server.

    Thanks,
    steve

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2000
    Posts
    3,046
    This has been asked a million times. Some companies earn less then $100 (on average) some earn $5000. It depends a lot on the TYPE of customer... Unmanaged Dedicated, Managed Dedicated, Colocation, Shared Hosting, Reseller Hosting etc.
    A well-reasoned assumption is very close to fact.
    - Adorno

  3. #3
    ok, the type of customer is customers on the interent

    reseller and shared hosting

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA
    Posts
    3,381
    Since it is hard to give specifics since there are seemingly a million possible combinations... I'll at least post some food for thought on what will determine your profit.

    First - before you can figure out your profit, you need to have a handle on your costs. Your primary costs on a server-specific bases will be the Equipment, Network and HR (human resources).

    The most cost effective platform will be to own your own equipment and co-locate. Thus, after a one-time investment in the hardware (as well as any necessary standby equipment & spares)... your only ongoing cost will be Network & HR.

    On the Network side - this will basically be your cost in terms of bandwidth. This cost may be small or large depending on the nature of the customers you are hosting on each server.

    Your HR costs will be largely determined by how much skill, experience and time you will have to devote to maintaining and supporting the server. This is a cost that you really need to think hard about since as your customer base increases, you are going to continue to need increase support help.

    So... at minimum, those are the costs that will apply.

    The next step is to figure out what kind of revenue the server can produce. This is where things get trickier. Here is one thing to keep in mind though... whether you have 200 accounts at a price of $3.95 or just 50 accounts at a $14.95/month hosting price - you'll make the same amount of revenue.

    The big difference is that if you had 200 accounts - that would be 4X the amount of support requests and server resources... for the very same revenue.

    I'm not saying that it doesn't make sense to offer a budget hosting plan. I'm just pointing out that it is important to really look at it from all angles to determine what business model you want to go after. (i.e. pursuing a smaller # of premium accounts or going after a higher number of budget accounts)

    There are companies that have implemented both approaches very successfully and very profitably.

    Anyways, the last step is to subtract the costs from the revenue and there you have your monthly server profit. I'm not sure if this really 100% answers your question but I think if you ask 100 people this same question, you'll get 100 different answers.
    CDGcommerce.com - Trusted Merchant Account Solutions since 1998
    Many thousands of successful, growing businesses benefit from our expertise every day. You can, too!
    We help merchants to eliminate gateway costs, reduce & mitigate fraud and achieve streamlined PCI compliance.
    Learn more today at http://www.cdgcommerce.com - we look forward to helping your business grow!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Greater Manchester - UK
    Posts
    108
    Average is $1000/server. This is after staff costs, VAT (uk), network and servers.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    88
    My average is around £450 per server

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2001
    Location
    Islamabad, Pakistan
    Posts
    635
    JGBuckle and BWS, what do you charge per customer and how many sites per server do you actually host?
    Arsalan
    Nexus - http://nexus.pk/
    ** Smart Solutions for Smart People! **

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Greater Manchester - UK
    Posts
    108
    Hi,

    From £35/year and arround 500 domains per server. We are working on increasing our server numbers now to get arround 300 domains per server.

    The domains are 95% home users. Mostly html.

    Windows 2003 web servers.

    Thanks
    JBuckle

  9. #9
    Thanks for the details... I am still looking for some people who want to share how much profit they make.

    Thanks,
    steve

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2002
    Location
    inside
    Posts
    217
    This was already covered several times. Try this thread:

    http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showth...15pagenumber=4

  11. #11
    ok, on that forum.. UH-Matt said this "Hardly worth the effort." if you are making 350$/dedicated box....

    Well, how much profit is considered worth the effort?

    -steve

  12. #12
    Originally posted by steveTobb
    ok, on that forum.. UH-Matt said this "Hardly worth the effort." if you are making 350$/dedicated box....

    Well, how much profit is considered worth the effort?

    -steve
    I'd say around $1500/server is decent. We redid our plans to allow roughly $2500 profit/month per server.
    Download my eBook + Videos: Starting your own successful web hosting company.
    Learn from a web host with 7 years of experience.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    210
    That all depends on your costs and the effort you have to put in... if it takes 18 hours a day and you're expecting to put bread on the table then it's not worth the effort (IMO) but some people might say it is worth the effort...

    I see your point Steve but you'll never get an answer to such a question - there's just too many variables!

    HTH

  14. #14
    Ok, let me set definitions to the variables

    1) this is side job (6 hours/day)
    2) Server pays for itself right now (about 120$)
    3) server is 2.4ghz, 512mb ram, redhat 9.0 cpanel/whm 8.5.4 and Pentium Intel.
    4) Server is about 1/4 to 1/3 full
    5) Get about 5 support/week
    6) Spends most profit to buy scripts to better the service and hire staff.

    Now, I have set these variables. This is about where xeoHosting is currently located. Is this good? Should we raise prices?

    We are interested in going full time into this with office space as stated here in "Office Space Topic"... http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showth...postid=1620317

    So in order for the top people in company to go into it full time, what is about profit we should get?

    Now dont worry about living expenses as ALL

    Thanks,
    steve

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Goleta, CA
    Posts
    5,566
    Server paying for itself is a good thing and if your only 1/3 or a 1/4 full theres plenty of room for additional revenue.
    Patron: I'd like my free lunch please.
    Cafe Manager: Free lunch? Did you read the fine print stating it was an April Fool's joke.
    Patron: I read the same way I listen, I ignore the parts I don't agree with. I'm suing you for false advertising.
    Cafe Owner: Is our lawyer still working pro bono?

  16. #16
    ok, well my basic question is, about how much would be good profit on one server? Like, for right now....

  17. #17
    Originally posted by steveTobb
    So in order for the top people in company to go into it full time, what is about profit we should get?
    Thanks,
    steve
    Take what each of the "top people" are making right now. Add those up. That's how much you need if they all dedicate their time to your company.

    As for a per-server #, that really is for you to decide...
    "dood, that is cogent. This is the #1 internet provider in the world, with the most advanced and fasted internet architecture." - Killer Angel

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •