Basically what's the easiest option / way to start? A) Buy a reseller package and use that? B) Buy a semi-dedi / dedi server and use that? Also where would be a good place to start? I don't want to trust these "cheap" and "over-selling", "kid-ran companies" but on the other hand I don't want to fork out a lot of money for a expensive one. Any thoughts... inputs, etc.. Oh and finally ... do you think it would be successful? (i.e. Is web hosting "in demand" ??)
Yeah get a reseller plan. Someone else runs the server, you make the money! I found a good cheap reseller that will give you 10GB of space and 100GB bandwidth with 10 cpanel accounts for only $5.99 a month. I am going to start to use them soon.
It is expensive and time consuming for your own sever but if it will be a business this would probably be the best route to take however if its a part time money maker go with resellers!
I might try with a reseller then to start off with, as I could always change over. Any suggestions for the best "value" reseller?
Thanks SEOBusiness ... I've always thought of maybe either using them or GoDaddy, but I'll have a look at their stuff.
I dont really suggest godaddy, everyone knows it is a reseller from godaddy who are in web design. May I also suggest lunarpages.com
It doesn't look like a good plan to me. Not only hosting 10 accounts is not exactly the way to make money by providing web hosting, plus such accounts are usually overused, meaning poor performance for your clients sites. For reseller accounts you should go for a well-known company that can offer unlimited cpanel accounts (or at least 100+ accounts) . Such providers usually have plans starting from 20$. You just can't go cheap when it comes to reselling web hosting.
Godaddy "reseller" plan is not exactly the same as what we are talking about. It's more of an affiliate system (they provide you the site) and you get commissions.
If you have a fast connection you could always host it from your own location. Although its not recommended.
Hi SoftCloud!!!! I'm doing exactly what you are wanting to do. Thats how I work: I have 2 accounts with hostgator, a reseller one and the common web hosting. The reseller account gives me the possibility to give a cpanel and fantastico to my clients, but only gives me 24gb of disk storage and 250gb of bandwidth. The linux web hosting "SWAMP" gives me 1000 gb of disk space, and unlimited bandwidth and domains allowed for 12.95 a month. The way I work is that: for the new users that want to be administrated by me, I use my swamp account. For the others, the reseller account. Mainly of my clients are small commerces that only want their page online. I also work with a graphic designer and I'm sending him a lot of work. Hope it helps. BTW, if you get a hostgator account, maybe you can use my link, thats other way to make some money. hxxps://secure.hostgator.com/cgi-bin/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=relative please change hxxps by https, Im not allowed to post links yet.. good luck!!!!
I have a reseller account, but it works a little different to most users on here. Most resellers pay a monthly fee, which is ongoing. I went down a different path.. I paid a once off upfront fee of $50 and nothing more. The catch is, I get a comission on the products I sell, but I can sell them for any price I want above the wholesale price so my margins are technically lower than WHM resellers in some respects. Now, this has obvious advantages & disadvantages, but at the end of the day, the $50 invested was made back with 1 customer and its all profits from there on. The big advantage I see doing it this way is, I now know alot more than I did back then. I just answer support questions here and there, and all else was handled by the parent company. I have a good customer base now, so I'm starting to look at the cPanel and WebHost Manager (WHM) route, thus cutting out the middle man & making higher profits. In hindsight, I think this was the right way to go as every cat and dog is saturating the hosting market with unmatchable prices so my customer base is my bread & butter. I wouldn't even consider going down the dedicated server path until you have a customer base, which can pay for it & still make a profit..
Personally, I think the market is really quite saturated now with more new web host coming out each and every day. It is a line of business which would require 24/7 support and the margin may not be attractive enough for you to provide that unless you really have economy of scale. Remember that when you provide web hosting services, you are not just providing a web presence but what you are indirectly responsible for your customers livelihood. Customers would depend on your technical knowledge to ensure that their websites are up, secured and running. It is a very huge responsibility and the margin may be small. If you go with a dedicated server, you will have more control because you will have full access to the server and can determine what goes on the server and what not to, however this would require you to be competent in server management and troubleshooting and there is really no option to say you can learn as you go along. While a reseller account is great, you will depend on your web host on all the technical aspect of the server and it may mean that you may be powerless at times waiting for a respond and you have no control over the load on the server as the web host would determine how many customers they will have and whether to oversell or not. The advantage however for a reseller account is you do not need to take care of the actual server management.