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  1. #1

    New to business, advice please

    Dear Fellows

    We are couple of fresh graduate and students, mainly related to CS and Telecom but we are highly interested to adventure hosting business. We would appreciate your advice to help us find good starting path. [I should make it clear we are not looking for one night rich formula]. Initially we are planing to provide following services.

    Domain Name
    Web Hosting
    SSL Certificates
    Email Hosting
    ID Protection
    Virtual Private Servers
    Dedicated Servers

    We I am the most experience guy in terms of CS of our group but I have little knowledge of hosting and server management. I spent few days (about week) on this groups but I am not sure from where to start.

    Our budget is about £25 - £50 PM initially and we can increase it if we need to hire some technical guy for remote hands as we are not experienced in this field.

    Our most emphasis would be to keep our customer love our services, though we are not mature but we will try our best to meet our target in this regard. Security and uptime are most important for me along with good customer services.

    I would like to hire a designer for my website and would love to code it, shall I go for automated one with reseller offering.

    Can you please guide me what should be entry point in this case.

    Reseller Hosting (It will also give Domains, SSL etc)
    VPS
    Dedicated Servers (Managed or should hire person (From India etc) for managing remotely, I am not sure I should by server management service of hire some one until we learn all stuff and make big team).

    We are UK based and I think poundhost is one good option if I don't go for Reseller but I would love to know about other options. Some reseller form this group are given as please just add * or - in front of URL for their service especially customer and technical support and uptime+security.

    e.g *-* companyName [2 good 1 not good]

    hostdime
    hostgator
    site5
    innohosting
    magmahost
    jaguarpc
    netearthone
    dedicatednow
    wiredtree
    mddhosting
    jixhost
    hostnine
    hostxweb



    Initial Plan is to start from both USA and UK with at least two data centres.

    Thanks for your advice in advance.

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    UK.
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    Hi NitGreen!

    Welcome to WHT and best of luck with your venture!

    First of all, I would sit down and think what type of customer you want to aim for and then start looking around for a hosting provider that suits your needs. Feel free to contact any hosting company and see what they can offer you, sometimes they can create custom plans for you.

    If you are looking for server management, check these US based guys - http://www.platinumservermanagement.com

    Scott

  3. #3
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    you want to provide those services initially? take it slow, you'll be much better off. I'd recommend starting off with just offering regular shared hosting from a reseller account and you've picked out some great names already. Some of those companies have staff members on this forum as regular users.

    For domain selling, I can suggest you look at enom or netearthone - I've tried both, they each have their advantages over the other and they are decent. Both allows you to sell SSL Certs as well (have to check NEO again though), ID Protection, VPS, and Dedicated servers are pretty far in the future, especially with the small budget that you guys have now.

    So take it slow, plan out where you should spend your budget, and you'll be much better off. Rushing things can only lead to mistakes.

    Good luck to you

  4. #4
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    If I were you, given your stated budget, I would do the following:

    - Get a managed VPS with cPanel or DirectAdmin and sell shared hosting, as you've said you plan to. Since it'll be managed you won't have to worry about hiring anyone.

    - Buy an unbranded WHMCS license (~15/mo) so you can automate your hosting company; WHMCS will also enable you to resell domain names and ssl certs from a provider like enom.

    -As far as selling VPS's goes, many providers will allow you to resell their services. This sounds like your only option given your budget.
    Ask me about CloudCentrum (coming soon) -- The complete, turn-key cloud software solution

  5. #5
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    You'll need to raise your budget if you plan to start with two locations and offer all those things.

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    As long as you take the time to come up with a solid business plan and you stick to it then you should do ok. You may bet more/better answers in the "Running a Web Host" section of this forum
    Michael Denney - MDDHosting.com - Proudly hosting more than 37,700 websites since 2007.
    Ultra-Fast Cloud Shared and Pay-By-Use Reseller Hosting Powered by LiteSpeed!
    cPanel • Free SSL • 100% Uptime SLA • 24/7 Support
    Class-leading support that responds in minutes, not days.

  7. #7
    @HivelocityJJ
    Thank you, What should be our minimum budget and what if we drop some of expensive services like SSL and Dedicated services initially.

  8. #8
    I would say if that is what you want your budget to be look around and find some hosts that you can be a reseller for so you can be easily scalable and afford the delays in building a client base.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Posts
    43
    Starting with a reseller package would be good to keep the costs low until you have many customers. Innohosting offers end user support and thus they are choosen by many people who want to resell but if you guys want to deal with the customers yourself to gain experience, that wouldn't be a plus. They allow overselling. They offer reseller packages in both Europe and USA but I haven't used their services.

    As for USA, HostGator's reseller package is very good but they don't allow overselling. Meaning that if you have 250gb bandwidth total and allocate 50 gb per account, you can only sell to 5 people. I can recommend them since I've used their reseller package but I've never used it for selling.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by nitGreen View Post
    @HivelocityJJ
    Thank you, What should be our minimum budget and what if we drop some of expensive services like SSL and Dedicated services initially.
    SSL Services won't be expensive. You should just resell a provider like enom.
    Ask me about CloudCentrum (coming soon) -- The complete, turn-key cloud software solution

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    With your budget in mind you should be able to purchase a managed VPS with WHM/cPanel so it will be easy to expand in to a dedicated server.
    U.S.A. High Resource allocation global cloud hosting serving 310,000 clients since 2008 | Offering both cPanel & DirectAdmin
    WebsitePlex.com | Instant Activation | Alpha, Master, Reseller & Cloud Hosting
    Recurring Affiliate Program Pays 20% of total revenue for life | 30 Day Trial

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
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    First

    Get whmcs
    then get ENOM (sell domain ssl blah blah)
    then get reseller package (hostagtor then you'll get whmcs for free)

    For vps go to vps.net and join the vps reseller thing.
    For dedicated go to the planet and resell dedicated servers

    GOOD LUCK

  13. #13
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by iloveunicorns View Post
    Get whmcs
    Not a bad idea.
    Quote Originally Posted by iloveunicorns View Post
    then get ENOM (sell domain ssl blah blah)
    I prefer ResellerClub/NetEarthOne but you could go with Enom if you don't mind charging $8/year for privacy protection
    Quote Originally Posted by iloveunicorns View Post
    then get reseller package (hostagtor then you'll get whmcs for free)
    HostGator isn't the only provider that offers free WHMCS - there are lots of them
    Quote Originally Posted by iloveunicorns View Post
    For vps go to vps.net and join the vps reseller thing.
    Probably not a bad idea but I don't know about the stipulations/requirements of the VPS.net reseller program so you will want to read up on this.
    Quote Originally Posted by iloveunicorns View Post
    For dedicated go to the planet and resell dedicated servers
    You have to have 5 servers at ThePlanet at full price before you can qualify for the reseller plan unless they've changed their reseller agreement recently.

    Quote Originally Posted by iloveunicorns View Post
    GOOD LUCK
    Indeed.
    Michael Denney - MDDHosting.com - Proudly hosting more than 37,700 websites since 2007.
    Ultra-Fast Cloud Shared and Pay-By-Use Reseller Hosting Powered by LiteSpeed!
    cPanel • Free SSL • 100% Uptime SLA • 24/7 Support
    Class-leading support that responds in minutes, not days.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    May 2009
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    I would prefer Innohosting.

  15. #15
    Try HostGator I was happy with them when I initially started!


    <<<signatures to be set up in your profile>>>
    Last edited by bear; 11-16-2009 at 03:35 PM.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
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    London
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    I like your enthusiasm and your idealistic plans - however I would have to agree with what has been said so far. Its nice that you would like to offer all those features, the beginning seems feasible and should remain within your budget. Maybe with time - you will grow able to cater for everything.

    Domain Names, SSL certificates & ID protection comes as a single package (generally) you could use companies like ENOM (as stated above) which I think is a good starting point. (free with a WHMCS license i think..)

    For the hosting you have a few options. With your current budget you could either start with a reseller and have some spare budget for marketing, or go for a VPS which will allow you room to grow and get some of the technical experience you will require to expand onto providing VPS and dedicated servers. I found that the most important thing in order to provide a good service was to understand what it is like to be on the other side of the hosting.

    There are a lot of technical questions which both your customers and potential customer will ask you - most of which you will require to have first hand experience in, in order to assist them. Which is why i recommend against starting with offering VPS and dedicated servers. If someone asks you how to install FFmpeg on their VPS and you refer them to your first find on google - will you keep them as customers for long? Would that customer spread the word about your company??

    There are also a lot of decisions to make such as CHEAP + UNRELIABLE VS QUALITY + RELIABILITY. what will be your target market? How will you attract customers over other companies? How will you keep track of all your customers? Which program will you use? WHMCS? ClientExec?? How much can you get a license for those at? Does that fit in your budget? How will you accept payments? Payment charges...?

    If you do wish to go for a dedicated server - I would recommend getting the management with the server as this generally means (if its a good company anyway) that there are people on site which if a physical interaction is required are there to help! I have had past clients wiping all the users on their dedicated servers by unpacking a a file in the wrong directory. When this happens you do need to physically be there to re-install the software or have someone there able to do it. + the management means that you will have less to worry about! Even if you outsource it to India - not sure it will be cheaper either.

    Good Luck!
    alex

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
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    Austin, Texas, USA
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    Well if your looking for 45-50 per month then you cant really start with a Dedi or selling VPS. Get a reseller account and a nice website and be willing to spend some on advertising. Use WHMCS
    VPSforMe.com - OpenVZ Virtualization with SolusVM Control Panel on High Quality Servers.
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  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by MikeDVB View Post
    Not a bad idea.
    I prefer ResellerClub/NetEarthOne but you could go with Enom if you don't mind charging $8/year for privacy protection
    HostGator isn't the only provider that offers free WHMCS - there are lots of them
    Enom account for free when you get whmcs.

    And hostgator is probably the best and support will be great for starters.

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by HS - Jackson View Post
    Well if your looking for 45-50 per month then you cant really start with a Dedi or selling VPS. Get a reseller account and a nice website and be willing to spend some on advertising. Use WHMCS
    OP said pounds, though . . . I'm not up on the latest conversion rates, but that probably puts OP ~ 85-100 USD . . . plenty to find a decent VPS
    Ask me about CloudCentrum (coming soon) -- The complete, turn-key cloud software solution

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by e-Sensibility View Post
    OP said pounds, though . . . I'm not up on the latest conversion rates, but that probably puts OP ~ 85-100 USD . . . plenty to find a decent VPS
    but that is total

    so domain name
    ssl certificate
    IP address

    Hosting package
    whmcs

    they all add up.


    plus for a starter a shared account is highly recommended so you can just focus on getting clients at first.

  21. #21
    Join Date
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    Before you start looking at providers and jumping in... I would firstly recommend creating a business plan; or at least a document that outlines what you are going to do differently in one of the most competitive industries online. Gaining any kind of a foothold in this industry is not easy and will take talent, hard work, some capital, and no small amount of luck.

    It is still possible to create a viable business in the web hosting industry, but it is more important than ever to innovate. Setting up a website with WHMCS and an Enom reseller account selling cPanel packages and standard ticket based support doesn't cut it anymore.

    Best of luck in your endeavours.
    Darren Lingham - Stablepoint Hosting
    Stablepoint - Cloud Web Hosting without compromise
    We provide industry-leading cPanel™ web hosting in 80+ global cities.

  22. #22
    Thank you all guys for your advice.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by e-Sensibility View Post
    OP said pounds, though . . . I'm not up on the latest conversion rates, but that probably puts OP ~ 85-100 USD . . . plenty to find a decent VPS
    OP also said he wanted to PROVIDE VPS' not just find one for himself.

  24. #24
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    I would also consider Site5 if you're going the reseller route. I was very satisfied with them for a long time until I outgrew reseller packages.

    They allow overselling, their support is pretty good, and they give you a free copy of ClientExec which is similar to WHMCS in functionality.

  25. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by kbduvall View Post
    I would also consider Site5 if you're going the reseller route. I was very satisfied with them for a long time until I outgrew reseller packages.

    They allow overselling, their support is pretty good, and they give you a free copy of ClientExec which is similar to WHMCS in functionality.
    I'd just like to chime in that our current reseller plans do not allow overselling. Thanks.

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