Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : How to create web hosting company?

[wolfcry]

I have been curious about a few things concerning creating a webhosting company. If anyone knows the answers, would be great to hear from you.
First, what all does a person need to have and know to start one?
Also, does the normal webhost make enough money to live on?

And, is there an estimate on how much money it would take to start a webhosting company?

[Reseller-Center]

Too many variables.. but here is a good place to start.

http://thewhir.com/find/web-hosts/articles/

http://hostpapers.com/category/17


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[niyogi]

My immediate response is it's a rough and tumble arena this web hosting industry. Most have either started with a reseller account to "test" the waters out or started with one server and tried to grow by spreading the word (using forums like this and in their respective industries and communities).

The real problem is that you end up being in a market with a whole bunch of competitors offering essentially the same thing with a different set of bells and whistles here and there. It's tough to break into the market considering the larger players smother the various web hosting directories with ads with bigger packages, more features and stronger support options.

However, you see many players emerge because the quality of service (even of these larger players) is questionable and people are willing to switch for better customer service (and other reasons as well such as flexibility).

As far as the money people make selling hosting; the default answer is that it varies. But I can tell you that there have been several hosting companies that have come and gone in a matter of days or weeks because they just couldn't get the fire going fast enough. This has led customers to become weary to the zillions of hosting companies that have emerged due to cheaper dedicated servers and to really want established hosting providers with a proven track record. If you have the stamina to establish this "staying power", you can get quite far and suceed.

Roj

[CactusCounty]

To start one takes next to nothing....Pick up a reseller account, throw up a site and you're off and running.

Keeping one going, on the other hand, requires a bit of time and money.

How hungry are you?

I don't think there is such a thing as a "normal webhost". As a startup, unless you have enough money to advertise extensively and provide the support needed by an influx of customers I'd doubt you could survive on the site's income initially. Once you've established the company, yes. But not right off the bat.

[gghosting]

Well you first need to know about servers, hosting, support, etc.

You could start off with a $10/month reseller account and a $8/year domain name. A reseller account is good to start off for a newbie and as you work your way up you can get a dedicated server, etc.

The Running a Web Hosting thread here on Web Hosting Talk should teach you a lot.

Good luck!

[wolfcry]

ah, i did not see that at first. Thank you. I'll get right onto reading that.

[simon26r]

stick at it as i have only done it for 6 weeks and have by luck got 10 on my account already

[DediZoneSales]

What you need is a Plan, A big Budget and A smart brain.

Apart from that, anything is possible to create.

Without a large budget, you wont get far.. as far as advertising goes.., and without advertising.. how will you plan to get saleS?

[PatsHost]

Well, to start a webhosting business is very easy and need only to spend USD8.00-10.00 per year (the cost of the domain name). That's all.

No high capital, No worries, headache or whatever. Just do the marketing and selling.

No need much technical knowledge or expensive server etc. Full support given.

U can get a FREE website as below. Change the prices you wish to charge your customers and u are in the webhosting business.

If interested can pm me.

[mrFoce]

yeah, you should start with a small reseller package first. Then if your customers like it you will grow and grow bit by bit.

[slice16]

Originally posted by Minimalistix
What you need is a Plan, A big Budget and A smart brain.

Apart from that, anything is possible to create.

Without a large budget, you wont get far.. as far as advertising goes.., and without advertising.. how will you plan to get saleS?

i disagree with your comment on a big budget

ok, it does help an awful lot with advertising, but its amazing how word of mouth travels, word of mouth is a much more powerful tool than advertising.

start off in your local area, local business etc. Then if you are a good host, word will travel.

dont go straight into the internet world of hosting. There are loads of providers offering extremley cheap packages. Going around your local area allows you to charge more because they KNOW where you are, they can go and see you, its odviously not a child in his room running it off his own computer.

In my opinion to most vital tool is to be honest. If you are a small company, tell people.

As for living off the money you make, not to begin with (unless you throw in alot of money upfront) but keep working at it, and im sure in the future it will pay for you.

[Shaw Networks]

Originally posted by niyogi
The real problem is that you end up being in a market with a whole bunch of competitors offering essentially the same thing with a different set of bells and whistles here and there. It's tough to break into the market considering the larger players smother the various web hosting directories with ads with bigger packages, more features and stronger support options.

The market for web hosting is solidly growing though, and for most local scenes, there is great opportunity for a web host to grow. However I do agree that the market is flooded with tens of thousands of quick "turnkey" reseller account hosts. But for someone having their web hosting company be his/her sole job, it is not hard to gain foothold and rise above the thousands of kiddie hosts.

[rpelerin]

I totally agree. Don't throw your ads blindly out into the web. There are 1000's of webhosts with larger budgets and possibly cheaper packages and in most cases you're not going to get much business out of that. I would start off localling with direct mail (which works very well) or your local paper.

[intek]

Paper ads never really worked for me. Business cards are a great idea. Just leave them where ever you go. I went to a nice restaurant with my fiancee a few weeks ago and left one in the rest room. A guy calls me and tells me about my card i left in the rest room. And how he would like his car project site on the net.

Like the other people said. Start small. There is no need to spend $300 per month on a server you arn`t going to use for more than 10 people in the first 2-4 months. Get a small reseller or a semi dedicated and work up from there.

Best of luck.

[Xhoster]

I agree don't get a server straight away its a big mistake and I know