Web hosting business

[casius]

Ok guys,

It's time to post some useful info to this forum as some of you do not like me (that i post when i am drunk..but anyway).

What you need to consider when you start your web hosting service/company.

First thing first...When I have started to get into web hosting (that was 4 years ago) I thought to my self where do I want to provide my service...Guess what I have started from 5 different locations
Ok now negatives and positives about it...Firstly you need to have some cash (about $200K) to start the multi-location mostly all the money goes to the marketing and stuff like that.
When again you need to decide will you use your own hardware or you are going to lease web servers...I have chosen to use my own hardware...Now you will tell me you stupid and so on, but the really huge benefits are that you can do anything you want with your hardware (updates to the servers and so on) an you do not have to be related to your DC requesting more stuff to your server...
The most negative thing is that you need to send everything by post which is pain in the %&*...
Actually nobody talks about how to do the proper marketing to web hosting service...I will tell you if you do not have enough cash when you have to do some really crappy stuff like SEO. I personally hate SEO, but it's very important thing to get your new visitors. You must work hard and think where you are going wrong every day...every day (remember). Do not do the things which you think are wrong, but if you doubt when you can check a lot of information about certain things. Trust me the techniques like spam or similar stuff will not work for you NO WAY! The only way you need to choose is the longest one (hard work). I you think that you are unable to work for 16-18 hours a day when I guess that business is not for you...
Also if you have like too much money then you will not read my post, but will hire really good marketing experts those will determinate the right way for your web hosting business.

Conclusion: The key to to success of your web hosting service is your hard job (I guess there is no miracles in the world)

 

[JJW]

I disagree on the amount of money needed. My former company, which was only shut down due to my marriage not money issues. Was starting to make money at 8 months into being open. I would have grown more i believe by providing great service. Also really no advertising was done.

 

[WebIntellects-R]

Learn the market and own opportunities. So far this market is overloaded with high competition

 

[~ServerPoint~]

I disagree on the amount of money needed. My former company, which was only shut down due to my marriage not money issues. Was starting to make money at 8 months into being open. I would have grown more i believe by providing great service. Also really no advertising was done.

I believe first time you will need to invest more into your business then get in return. IMO

 

[casius]

Yes I would agree with you, but if you run your web hosting just to run it, but not earn from it when someone can consider to go your way. From my experience the math is simple:
Marketing $$$$
Marketing $$$$
Marketing $$$$

That is all what you need. Also you can forget about server maintenance, support,etc.
You service can be brilliant from all around, but if you will not have any visitors and nobody will know your company that is such a web hosting you actually better of not to start it.

I disagree on the amount of money needed. My former company, which was only shut down due to my marriage not money issues. Was starting to make money at 8 months into being open. I would have grown more i believe by providing great service. Also really no advertising was done.

 

[SiberForum]

Do your best every day. Let customers love you. Tomorrow they will drive new customers to you. And you need love each customer.

 

[JJW]

I was running a new webhosting company i put 20 dollars into advertising and was getting to the point of making money when i had to shut it down due to family issues. I had 15 customers and was very good about understanding how much money was going in as going out. That is what you have to be concerned with. First make sure you can pay your bills. If you advertise and you figure that into your out going money, then you have to make more a month to pay the bills. I believe that customer service and stability are the number one and all the rest will follow.

 

[probafix]

A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. Web hosts can also provide data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center, called colocation.

The scope of hosting services varies widely. The most basic is web page and small-scale file hosting, where files can be uploaded via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Web interface. The files are usually delivered to the Web "as is" or with little processing. Many Internet service providers (ISPs) offer this service free to their subscribers. People can also obtain Web page hosting from other, alternative service providers. Personal web site hosting is typically free, advertisement-sponsored, or inexpensive. Business web site hosting often has a higher expense.

 

[WhiteSystem]

Hmmm in my opinion thats so much money, many hosting providers start with an average amount of some thousands of dollars to handle with 3-4 Servers, with good, reputable and stable providers.

Of course, it would be ideally starting with a large capital for your business, but in these times this is a rare occurrence.

 

[Seraphim]

I've started a hosting business on only $60 a month.

It's not impossible. Just it is a great deal harder because you have to actually work at it to get customers and promote your service. Plus you don't get all the fancy toys at that price, so a lot of things you might end up doing the hard way.

I will be a year into this in august, and have been looking promising for income from it as far back as the 8 month mark. Hopefully soon it will actually happen so these servers pay for themselves. Assuming no major hardware changes or failures, I will be approximately $1000 invested into this at that point, not counting the amount of time I have spent developing software for it and promoting it.

However I have a slightly different approach. It is to my advantage to use leased dedicated hardware because then even though I am slightly limited by what the datacenter offers the hardware is then their responsibility. Any failures they have to cover for, whereas my own hardware I'd be overnighting a new hard drive to the datacenter for installation if one were to fail. It saves money for me at this point, though later on I may get some colocated units for larger customers than what my current dedi arrangements can handle.

 

[WebIntellects-R]

When you are new on the market all potential customers are trying to avoid you. Yes that is truth. But in time you will see how that improves.

 

[WhiteSystem]

Internet marketing is extremely hard (very hard) and it requires considerable experience to deal with all these beasts of the net, is a real battle for prices, supply and demand, etc..

So I recommend primiparous companies in getting business locally (in your country, your city) with people you know, you go to hotels, restaurants offering your services at great prices, these companies need websites, and not receive offers every day, so yours will be a enough to hire your services, that if, study the company, see what they need and offers just that. For example what Hotels need most is being well positioned in Google when searching "lalolanda hotel" that is what they want, so offer that and give it.

Regards.