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Thread: My UK Hosting Dream!!!
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11-08-2005, 09:48 AM #1Aspiring Evangelist
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My UK Hosting Dream!!!
I have always wanted to own my own company and work for myself, of course the problem has always been what sort of business would i want to control?
Originally i thought the answer to the question was 'Website Design' (due to my background and qualifications) but having left uni and being unable to get a job in the web design industry due to my lack of commerical experience i started thinking about the alternatives... and the answer was 'Cheap UK Web Hosting'.
To be honest ive been let down in the past by EUKHost, although for the cheap price i shouldnt really complain! In the last 2ish years ive exerienced downtime, loss of emails and other data and even problems with adding of additional domains through there control panel (although thats probably due to my own stupidity!!!).
So my dream is to provide something similar, nice and cheap and really really reliable.... webhosting by designers for designers (as id like to look at it). So ive starting building my interface for my hosting company and ive looked at reseller hosting. Ive looked at a number of resellers having already discarded EUKHost as a possibility for the obviously reasons of data loss and downtime (despite there new and much needed website image, although its obviously a template).
The decision for a reseller account has fallen at this time to bpweb.net who appear to have a professional appearance and have provided excellent email communication about the services they provide, if their hosting and after sales service is as good as thier pre-sales services they are definately the choice for me.
So i have a first choice of reseller hosting... now comes the hosting prices and what i like to call the 'two big snags'.
The cheapest package i am looking to offer is £19.99 and that gets you 250mb of storage, 10gb bandwidth per month, you can stick 5 domain names on the account (hence the buyer can host 5 unique websites on the same hosting account) and various other features including some mysql databases etc. etc.
The next package would be £29.99 which would have 500mb storage and 25gb bandwith or storage. Finally there would be a package for either £39.99 or £49.99 which would have 1000mb of stoarage and 50gb of bandwidth per month. Needless to say the number of addable domain names and other features would increase dependant on which package.
Now the two snags and this is where i need some commments:
1) i dont want to provide peoples domain names, i just want to provide people with hosting. The reason for this is because i really cant stand people being in control of my domain names. I want to know where my domain names are so that if i want to leave a host i can do so without having to muck around trying to get my domain name back (EUKHost take note). Quite simply would you buy hosting without a domain name or would you expect to get a free domain name with the hosting? Take into consideration the price of the cheapest package im looking to offer... "we provide the hosting, you provide the domain" (well i think its quite catchy).
2) Support... if im totally honest theres no way i can provide 24/7 support. Sure ill check for emails and problems 2 or 3 times per day, but i cant provide continous support 24/7. My main issue behind support has always been to use it to complain about downtime and loss of data. Other than that ive always been able to sort the problem myself!!!
So based on my prices, my minimal support service and the lack of domain names... would you buy???
At the end of the day i want to provide something that i would buy... something that was reliable... something that was cheap.
Thanks for reading this far... im sure your all bored by now, but makes some comments if you like.
Cheers
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Sabian1982
Multimedia, Technology and Design BSc
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11-08-2005, 11:20 AM #2Junior Guru
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What is your unique selling point for this?
From what I've read it seems like you're trying to do something that plenty of others already do.
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11-08-2005, 12:39 PM #3Aspiring Evangelist
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i think what i want to achieve is a hosting company that is good value for money and each package has the ability to use quite a large number of domain names so the user can say have 20-30 or however many unique websites running on one account. i think its obviously hard to create a unique idea for anything that someone else hasnt thought of... otherwise we would all be millionaires wouldnt we?
basically when i was looking for hosting i wanted something cheap, something that i could use quite a few domain names on, a nice lot of bandwidth and space and something that was very reliable... no down time or loss of data... im basically try to achieve what i would want to buy...
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11-08-2005, 07:28 PM #4WHT Addict
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So basically you want to provide cheap and reliable web hosting?
The problem is, your plans aren't really 'cheap' -- at least not compared to most hosts out there these days.
Also your plans aren't going to be reliable, at least not support-wise -- checking for emails 2-3 times a day is simply not enough to sustain a business on.valvemedia ltd • private label reseller specialists!
web hosting, e-commerce, content management and awesome design services
Looking to sell? we are on the acquisition trail - US/UK hosts only.
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11-08-2005, 07:38 PM #5Web Hosting Master
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I say take it and run with it! And good luck to you! The UK needs a stable, reliable, cheap web host, and you sound like the guy to do it! Keep us updated!
Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
Hosting Solutions Optimized for: WordPress • Joomla • OpenCart • Moodle
Data Centers in: Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (AU), Sofia (BG), Pori (FI)
Email Daniel directly: ceo [at] bezoka.com
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11-09-2005, 09:35 AM #6Aspiring Evangelist
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Originally Posted by Valve Ben
Right lets start at the top... the price you say of £19.99 which would give you the cheapest package of 250mb web space, 10gb of bandwidth pm, say you can use 5 domain names on the website to host seperate sites under the one account, 10 MySQL databases (2 for each domain name) and a load of other features...
You say that £19.99 for that isnt cheap compared to other hosts out there... id agree with that 100% but show me a UK based host that serves UK customers (which is what im looking to do) that is that cheap.
A search on Google for "cheap uk web hosting" showed up some cheap hosting...
One the first page (one of the cheapest i could find) was from £13.99 with 150mb of space. With this you can only have 1 true domain (im offering 10), 1 POP email account (mine will be unlimited), no subdomains (again ill offer unlimited), ZERO mysql databases (did i mention mine would provide 10)....
At the end of the day my £19.99 account would totally outstrip the other companies £13.99 hosting and mine would include features that would have normal had to be bought as addons... for anywhere up to an additional £50+ per year.
I agree support would be time limited ie responses would be replied to way within 12 hours of submission but the quality of responses would be exellent as well as being supported by a knowledge basis, user forums and records of all previous problems and solutions experienced by customers. The idea to grow the hosting company into its only little communitie of site owners... i know its a pipe dream at the moment and that the reply is there are hundreds of website forums out there...
Some more comments anyone? is there something cheaper in the UK (im just lazy and dont want to trawl through lots of google search pages...
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11-09-2005, 09:40 AM #7Web Hosting Master
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No, I don't believe there is anything cheaper in the UK. Again, I say take your idea and run with it!
Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
Hosting Solutions Optimized for: WordPress • Joomla • OpenCart • Moodle
Data Centers in: Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (AU), Sofia (BG), Pori (FI)
Email Daniel directly: ceo [at] bezoka.com
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11-09-2005, 09:47 AM #8Aspiring Evangelist
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Originally Posted by mynameweb
One thing i would like to ask from your own experience from running a successful business is relating to the support of customers which is my main concern.
Do you find any particular support problems continously come up and generally how many support requests do you get in (say for example) a week...
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11-09-2005, 09:56 AM #9WHT Addict
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Off the top of my head, lets go with unitedhosting.co.uk - well known on this forum and serving a high number of sites these days. They are a UK company with UK servers.
They're basic reseller plan (as I don't believe they offer multiple domains on normal plans) is $34/month (19.50 UKP). With this you get 3GB disk space and 30GB b/w, as opposed to your 250MB disk space and 10GB b/w. You can also host up to 30 domains compared to your 5.
I'm not trying to put you down in any way, but I seriously suggest you do more research before jumping in at the deep-end.
Will you be offering phone support? IMO support is the thing that sets hosts apart from each other. Sure everyone offers disk space, and mailboxes and mysql db's etc.. in that sense you can match other hosts directly. But support is a whole different ball game.
You need to decide exactly who your target market is. You are aiming at web designers, which mean they will be reselling to their clients. These kind of people need to KNOW that when one of their customers has a problem, they can rely on you to fix it, otherwise it makes THEM look bad.
You need at the very least 9am-5pm support (phone preferably) to support these kinds of clients IMO.
HTHvalvemedia ltd • private label reseller specialists!
web hosting, e-commerce, content management and awesome design services
Looking to sell? we are on the acquisition trail - US/UK hosts only.
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11-09-2005, 09:57 AM #10Web Hosting Master
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If you don't want to "muck about" with domain names, then why not use a reseller from a registrar that gives the owner their own control panel ? The user can then simply move their domain away if they have problems with you.
EUK was the reason I moved from a reseller account to dedicated server several years back, so I know where you're coming from. I had to fight to get my domain name (right up to the registrar !) as well, some things don't change
Unless you have a large support load, 24/7 support can be done by a 1 man band if you set your helpdesk to SMS you and you have a PDA with a GPRS or 3G link you can do support from virtually anywhere.Alex Monaghan - Monaghan Consultants Ltd
Web hosting, ADSL, IT & Database consultancy
Custom Web hosting Linux/cPanel (UK or USA servers) or Windows/DotNetPanel (UK only). Reseller accounts also available
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11-09-2005, 10:00 AM #11Web Hosting Master
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Hmmm...so far, we have not gotten any "most popular" support questions. But some common ones do include email problems (usually you have to tell them to use their ISP's SMTP server), script-related issues/requests, and of course if their website does not show up, you will be the first one they contact!
But as far as questions you can count on, they generally run all across the board.
We get most of our support requests as soon as a client signs up. After the first two weeks or so, the tickets seem to slack off. The main reason we get tickets after that is for, again, website being down or email problems.
I thikn your idea of checking emails about three times a day will work fine. Just make sure you include on your website the feature '24 hour response guarantee' or something similar. This will assure clients that although their email will not be answered right away, it will be answered within a day.
Hope that helps some! If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask them!Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
Hosting Solutions Optimized for: WordPress • Joomla • OpenCart • Moodle
Data Centers in: Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (AU), Sofia (BG), Pori (FI)
Email Daniel directly: ceo [at] bezoka.com
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11-09-2005, 10:11 AM #12Web Hosting Master
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The main thing with support is to get something back to the customer ASAP to set their expectations.
Give them nothing and they don't know where they stand and get upset.
Tell them when they can expect an answer by with a simple email autoresponder or helpdesk call acknowldgement page - AND tell them if you're not going to meet the target. Most customers will appreciate simple honesty.Alex Monaghan - Monaghan Consultants Ltd
Web hosting, ADSL, IT & Database consultancy
Custom Web hosting Linux/cPanel (UK or USA servers) or Windows/DotNetPanel (UK only). Reseller accounts also available
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11-10-2005, 08:17 AM #13Aspiring Evangelist
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I think theres some confusion here
They're basic reseller plan (as I don't believe they offer multiple domains on normal plans) is $34/month (19.50 UKP). With this you get 3GB disk space and 30GB b/w, as opposed to your 250MB disk space and 10GB b/w. You can also host up to 30 domains compared to your 5.
Looking at there cheapest hosting package is 200mb @ £5 per month... that would be £60 per year... im offering more webspace and more features for £19.99... other than the 24/7 support (where an SMS idea was mentioned by monaghan)... i cant really see much comparision...
I think at the end of the day (as mentioned in this forum on previous posts) is that word of mouth and places like this are the key to generating customers. At the end of the day i would need to get a minimum of 25 customers in a year to make a profit and cover my startup costs!!!
At the end of the day im a young designer doing something completely different as my full time job. As long as i cover my initial expenditure during the year i dont mind!!! Id prefer to have a really popular site that grows into an online community than something that makes me a tonn of cash. Of course i wldnt complain if i got both!!! :p
Thanks again mynameweb for the stats plus if you could provide some indication on how many new customers you get each month/year that would be useful. Use my email if you dont feel comfortable posting that info to the forum.
Cheers
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11-10-2005, 11:53 AM #14WHT Addict
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Originally Posted by sabian1982
BTW - there's no difference between a 'reseller' account and multi-domain account in essence, hance why I chose that plan as a comparison.valvemedia ltd • private label reseller specialists!
web hosting, e-commerce, content management and awesome design services
Looking to sell? we are on the acquisition trail - US/UK hosts only.
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11-10-2005, 11:56 AM #15Web Hosting Master
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Actually, Valve Ben, there is a difference. Many of the hosts that offer multi-domain shared hosting strictly forbid these accounts from being used as reseller accounts.
Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
Hosting Solutions Optimized for: WordPress • Joomla • OpenCart • Moodle
Data Centers in: Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (AU), Sofia (BG), Pori (FI)
Email Daniel directly: ceo [at] bezoka.com
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11-10-2005, 12:18 PM #16Web Hosting Master
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I'd be concerned with offering yearly prices so low when your starting out, if you only sell 1 account, the £20 won't keep your reseller account up for long, even if you buy a mega cheap oversold usa based kiddie hosting reseller account.
If you're doing a full time job, then you'll have to think the support processes and ensure your customers are happy with the response times - either that or you'll have to nip to the bog with a GPRS PDA every time you get a call
Good luckAlex Monaghan - Monaghan Consultants Ltd
Web hosting, ADSL, IT & Database consultancy
Custom Web hosting Linux/cPanel (UK or USA servers) or Windows/DotNetPanel (UK only). Reseller accounts also available
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11-10-2005, 12:39 PM #17Aspiring Evangelist
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also i spose you cant really use them as proper resellar accounts can you... theres no seperate control panel really...
still it would be interesting to know realistically if i SEO my site well enough, and get the word out there about my hosting site the number of sign ups i can expect with in a month or a year.
So how long do u think it will take me to get 25 customers at the prices and service im offering...
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11-10-2005, 12:56 PM #18Web Hosting Master
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What's all this nineteen night nine? It's twenty quid!
.99 this, .95 that are americanisms which were introduced to the UK. Charge that penny more...give it to charty if you don't want it.
So how long do u think it will take me to get 25 customers at the prices and service im offering...Web Handyman - Website and Internet Marketing Service
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11-10-2005, 01:49 PM #19Web Hosting Master
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sabian1982,
If you use good SEO tactics and effective advertising methods such as Google AdWords, it would be quite possible to get 25 customers in one day. It all depends on how much you can spend and how brilliant of a marketing campaign you can develop. But it is indeed realistic to expect to get 25 clients very quickly.Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
Hosting Solutions Optimized for: WordPress • Joomla • OpenCart • Moodle
Data Centers in: Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (AU), Sofia (BG), Pori (FI)
Email Daniel directly: ceo [at] bezoka.com
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11-10-2005, 02:35 PM #20Web Hosting Guru
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Originally Posted by mynameweb
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11-10-2005, 04:26 PM #21WHT Addict
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Originally Posted by mynameweb
And anyway, in the context of the thread starter there is actually no difference anyway. He is the one planning on offering multi-domain and I used a reseller plan to compare to his -- unless you have seen a TOS which strictly forbids the use of such an account for hosting multiple personal sites rather than reselling?
If I had compared the other way then possibly we would have an issue.valvemedia ltd • private label reseller specialists!
web hosting, e-commerce, content management and awesome design services
Looking to sell? we are on the acquisition trail - US/UK hosts only.
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11-10-2005, 04:30 PM #22Web Hosting Master
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Whatever...
Your comparison could confuse those who do not have a bigger depth of knowledge. You need to be careful when trying to help someone out that you keep this fact in mind.Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
Hosting Solutions Optimized for: WordPress • Joomla • OpenCart • Moodle
Data Centers in: Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (AU), Sofia (BG), Pori (FI)
Email Daniel directly: ceo [at] bezoka.com
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11-10-2005, 04:39 PM #23WHT Addict
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No need to get upset, we are all friends here
I didn't feel that someone on a hosting forum would need further information, but shall make sure in future that I explain all the details so as not to confuse anybody.valvemedia ltd • private label reseller specialists!
web hosting, e-commerce, content management and awesome design services
Looking to sell? we are on the acquisition trail - US/UK hosts only.
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11-10-2005, 04:39 PM #24Retired Moderator
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.99 this, .95 that are americanisms which were introduced to the UK.Steve
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11-10-2005, 04:44 PM #25Web Hosting Master
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Sorry, Ben, I can get a bit touchy sometimes!
I do understand what you're saying - I just wanted to make sure that the OP and other folks reading this would not get confused!Daniel B., CEO - Bezoka.com and Ungigs.com
Hosting Solutions Optimized for: WordPress • Joomla • OpenCart • Moodle
Data Centers in: Chicago (US), London (UK), Sydney (AU), Sofia (BG), Pori (FI)
Email Daniel directly: ceo [at] bezoka.com