It’s been a while since the last post. I was down with fever last week and now let’s talk about how to start your own web hosting business. Today we’re going to talk about where to host it.

As part 01 mentioned. You need to have a proper capital to start your own web hosting service. You can run a company using your pocket-money but those kind of web hosting businesses called as summer hosts and you won’t get any real customers who are willing to pay in long-term.

There are three key items behind a successful web hosting business. First one is selecting a suitable business plan. We urge you to keep up a proper business plan throughout this whole process. When it comes to business plans, you can prepare a simple one your own. But as the company grows. Select a good business planner (Don’t go to freelancing web sites) and meet him/her. Discuss with the person and they will guide you & keep up a proper business plan for you. Usually it take about one or two months to prepare a basic business plan so timing is very important.

It may take you a couple of months to get your first customer depending on your marketing. I’m going to explain few marketing methodologies that we’ve used successfully with our company.

But first, you have to select a proper package to start your business. There are five options that I would like to eradicate two from beginners list.

1. Build your own data center and start your hosting business – Cost is amazingly high and even large-scale hosting providers do wait about 5-10 years to start their own data center. In general terms, it would cost more than a single person can spend. So as a beginner to the market. Please wait until mature state come to your business
2. Renting a server rack and/or co-locating – This may look cool but main thing is your maintaining cost is high. Usually rented rack or collocation costs more than renting a in-house dedicated server. As your company grows, you can rent a rack and expand your services.
3. Renting a dedicated server – This is one of the best option if you know how to configure and keep up a web server in a professional way. Remember customer satisfaction is the key to long life of your company. If you’re not good with maintaining a regular support to the dedicated server. You’ll ended up paying $$$$ to a third-party management company or remote hands at all the time. Also you’ll have to watch it 24×7. There are few cons when using a dedi box. First thing is majority of the license do cost more for dedicated rather than virtual private servers. Also your upgrading options are somewhat limited depending on the hardware.
4. Purchasing a cloud/VP server – This is a good option for a startup but there are few things to consider. Most of the time providers oversell their VPS and this may cause serious performance issues. While some providers blocks the SMTP port of VPS’s others will suspend your server if you hit their limits. But license come in cheap bundles for VPS’s. So it got its own perks. Concept is similar as the dedicated server. Either you can manage your server or you can pay for a third-party.
5. Reseller hosting – This is the best option for a startup company. Most of the large-scale hosting providers offer reseller packages. They will pay license and maintenance fee by them selves. You’ll have to buy a package at a small cost and do few minor configurations. Now you’re ready to go. But always try to find a white labeled provider who doesn’t mess with your clientele. Because some provider do like to play with their resellers by hiding easter eggs with their reseller package. And suddenly, your client knows that they are on that particular providers hosting not yours.

If you’re a beginner and your funds are at a low-level, best option is going for a reseller hosting. As your company grows you can expand your services to dedicated and racks. Even you got few more $$$’s to spend. It’s easier to start with a reseller account. If you’re seeking for a good quality reseller account. Try our cloud based reseller plans on our portal here.

In the next post I’m going to discuss how to select a billing platform and basic things you must setup before opening your business to clients. Stay tuned with our blog for more articles and freebies.

This post was written by Lahiru Himesh Madusanka. CEO/Founder of eezpal.