Clau's web Blog

There are several reasons for starting a web hosting business. For some it is their secondary business, however there are some people who prefer hosting business as their main business. Thus due to these reasons they usually prefer to start with low startup costs.

Getting into hosting business is really not an easy job as there is much stress in this business. Anytime the person would be in serious problem if his client’s site were. Thus web-hosting business is really not a smooth business; rather it is a stressful job.

Thus it is advisable that one who wants to get rich in less time should not come in this business. It is a fact that every one a large section of web-host providers leave this business due to not getting even return on their investment. Thus, if one is having motive to earn tremendous profit, then web hosting is not the right option.

How to start web-hosting business?

Often it comes to one’s mind what are the essential things one should keep in mind to start this business. The foremost requirement is business experience; if one is having experience prior in computer sales, ISP, website design or E-business, it can give a good start. In case user is having his own site and he knows how to manage it then it is going to benefit him most.

Another most important requirement is technical knowledge. In order to become successful one should know about Linux, Windows and must know installations and other things about them. In addition one should understand various technical components of an Internet server and control panel software. Knowledge of HTML and some scripting would be an additional advantage.

All of the above mentioned things are must but if one is not an avid Internet surfer then it can harm him. Good broadband connection availability is also important along with other things.

Selection of Server:

After technical aspects the important thing is selection of server. There are two options available, first is one can lease or can buy. Space on one’s server is what one sells. Example if one’s server is having 50G of Disk space, discounting the Operating system and Control panel software, out of that one can resell 30G of it.

In the very beginning, the user needs to get a Server so that he can host websites on it. Now here mostly what happens is that the beginners get into dilemma whether they should lease a server, or they should try the Collocation one or they should start as a mere Reseller.

If one is a beginner and is having small budget with less technical knowledge, it is advisable that one should opt for Reseller hosting. The advantage of reseller hosting is that it is cheap and needs just a mere investment of under $100 for a reseller account. Another advantage is that one would be managing the front-end technical support of his clients, whereas the high-end technical administration of his server will be done by anyone else. On the other side the biggest drawback is that one will have no real control on his as well as his client’s websites. As soon as the server is down one is only left with an option of telling his Web Host and has just to wait.

After some time as soon as the user gets experienced, he can go for opting for dedicated servers or Colo. In case one is going to have big budget, he can opt for buying a Web Hosting business. One will get a ready clientele and can be spared with several problems. The revenue generated in this business is generally 1x to 2x time’s revenue. Thus one should make sure to check that the customers are happy, that they are all on monthly or quarterly plans, there is good technical support and moreover the servers are all working properly or stable.

One should not forget that his entire business plan is based on the Disk space and bandwidth that he is going to sell. It hardly matters what is the type of server one is purchasing what matters most is that it can an hold up to 300-500 accounts. One should not base his business model on the premise that he can squeeze in 1000s of accounts into one server. It is always advisable to keep aside about 10% of one’s disk space and bandwidth for emergencies.

Selection of Software

There are several softwares available as well which one needs, like Control panel software, Billing software and Helpdesk software.

The utility of Control Panel software is that it helps automate several Administration tasks. There are large numbers of Web Hosts who use control panel software and customers expect to have a Client side control panel by default. Some of the popular control panels available are Plesk, cPanel.net, Hsphere.com, Ensim.com etc. Generally one needs to spend around $500-600 per year per server on his control panel. Now here if one is a reseller surely this cost is borne by his Hosting provider.

Technical support and maintenance

The last but not the least feature is technical support and maintenance. If one is not a trained and Experienced System admin, in that case he can either hire local System administrators to help him, or one can outsource at a relatively cheaper cost to Outsourced Tech support companies. The advantage of hiring from other companies is that these companies have trained Engineers who will resolve any problem within a minute which can take up to hours by any inexperienced person,

As per expected Industry standard, 24/7 Technical supports with average response times of 1 hour or less is considered ok. In such severe cutthroat competition of web hosting the only way to lead is by serving best and unique customer support than others. If one selects to outsource his support, one should read carefully the Testimonials and Plans of the provider. One should not emphasize only on cost as cost hardly maters in such circumstances. It is even possible that just in order to save few dollars one can suffer huge loss afterwards.