Sell my webhosting company or employe new people?

[ZAKARIA]

Hello guys i have built a webhosting resseler company since 2 years and everything work well and very succesful so that make me think to build another web hosting company , i was built one in the last 4 month with good advertising strategies (google indexing/ social media pages / blog ...).
after 3 weeks working on this company i get new 11 clients also working in my first company and the work doubled i didnt have more time sleep just 3 hours a day , lot of tention i dont know how i can handle this lot of work so im confused between selling the new company or employ new people? any suggest pleas.

 

[easyhostmedia]

Hello guys i have built a webhosting resseler company since 2 years and everything work well and very succesful so that make me think to build another web hosting company , i was built one in the last 4 month with good advertising strategies (google indexing/ social media pages / blog ...).
after 3 weeks working on this company i get new 11 clients also working in my first company and the work doubled i didnt have more time sleep just 3 hours a day , lot of tention i dont know how i can handle this lot of work so im confused between selling the new company or employ new people? any suggest pleas.

I ran my webhosting business for 18 years as a one man business, so it can be done, you just need to work out a work/life balance.

1) Only operate 1 web hosting business if you are on your own.

2) Get an automated system like WHMCS and configure it correctly (this means customers can place orders without you needed to be available).

3) Build or order complete extensive Knowledgebase and make this available.

4) Forget the concept that 24/7 support means you have to be available 24/7, as long as you have a KB then you provider a form of support 24/7.

5) Tell your clients you are the only person running the business and say you will be available between **AM and **PM but may be available outside of these hrs depending what else you are doing. Tell them to either email you or message you so you can get messages when you are not at your workstation.

6) Always be flexible i.e. you say you are available between 8am and 11pm and you get a client contact you at 10:50PM with an issue, dont say that you will close in 10 min., just stay with the client until it is resolved or if its a complicated issue then tell then you will look at it first thing in the morning

In the hosting business then you will have sleepless nights (it comes with the job), it was ideal for me as i dont need much sleep.

In my early days as a host i remember one i went 3 full days without any sleep while working on an issue for a client.

 

[qtechservers]

Some of the biggest web hosting companies do not have 24/7 sales coverage but support assistance must be 24/7.

If you're getting servers from another hosting company, you can check if they offer 100% private label hosting. Which means in the back-end you get all the support from the main reseller company.

A lot of companies will provide you with a support email ID (private domain name email ID) which your clients can use to email for support issues.

 

[easyhostmedia]

A lot of companies will provide you with a support email ID (private domain name email ID) which your clients can use to email for support issues.

Where did you hear this.

It is you who provide support for your own clients, so they contact you and if you cant sort it then you contact your provider who will either fix the issue (if you are on a reseller plan or a managed server) for free or give you an estimate on the cost to fix it (if you are on an unmanaged server).

Some providers (not many) may provide a service where they will allow your clients to communicate with them, but they will charge you for offering this service.

But these days a lot of issues can be solved with a quick search on Google

 

[bigredseo]

As a former web hosting company owner (~20 years), I have a few areas which I can advise on;

• Don't run multiple companies. Your marketing budgets will not just double but would triple or more
• Know when your health is a priority (physical or mental) - at that point, employees are good to have
• Let your customers know exactly who you are, what you have experience with, and how you can help
• Know when you need to hire outside help
• Support does not have to 24x7, however, server management and monitoring MUST be 24x7
• You should have a priority queue system to allow critical tickets to send alerts
• Use an automated setup system like WHMCS or other
• Know when to hire

Yes, I listed "know when to hire" on there twice. It's a critical part of maintaining a healthy business. At some point, you just CAN'T do everything yourself and provide the very best service.

When I started, I offered web hosting only to clients that we had done designs for and then opened the door to friends of clients. It wasn't until 2000 we opened the doors 100% to random people. By 2002, we had over 500 clients and due to support, I reached out and had someone come on full time (they were actually a client at the time, and then turned 100% to employment with me).

By the time I was done, we had thousands of clients, 10 employees, hundreds of servers. I would not have been able to manage this on my own. I sold the hosting company in 2014 to expand my wife's SEO and Design Company.

If you're going to provide the very best, you need to know when you need help in providing that level. You simply can't give 100% to hundreds of people.

I don't agree that a knowledgebase classifies as 24x7 support. I think it can help reduce the support requests, however, 24x7 should be an actual person providing support. We had 2 people working overnights and 5 people working during weekdays, reducing down to 2 people working on weekend days.

Running a secondary company ads extra strain. I'd much rather see you merge the clients into a single company, then put 100% marketing effort into a single entity.

That's my two cents anyway, but each person is different.

 

[easyhostmedia]

I don't agree that a knowledgebase classifies as 24x7 support.

Conor if you check 24/7 fall into 2 categories

24/7 support just means you have a support medium available 24/7 which could be a FAQ/KB or a Virtual Assistant.
24/7 live support means you have a live person available 24/7

I checked this with trading standards in the UK.

 

[bigredseo]

Conor if you check 24/7 fall into 2 categories

24/7 support just means you have a support medium available 24/7 which could be a FAQ/KB or a Virtual Assistant.
24/7 live support means you have a live person available 24/7

I checked this with trading standards in the UK.

No doubt it probably falls under the legal definition, but as a consumer, it would piss me off. It's all semantics.

 

[easyhostmedia]

No doubt it probably falls under the legal definition, but as a consumer, it would piss me off. It's all semantics.

It all boils down to how you define to your customers, if your customers are aware that on your site 24/7 support does not mean 24 /7 live support.

but a simple solution is not to state 24/7 on your website if you cant provide 24/7 live support, so no one gets confused

 

[ResellBox.Net]

Resell

Hello guys i have built a webhosting resseler company since 2 years and everything work well and very succesful so that make me think to build another web hosting company , i was built one in the last 4 month with good advertising strategies (google indexing/ social media pages / blog ...).
after 3 weeks working on this company i get new 11 clients also working in my first company and the work doubled i didnt have more time sleep just 3 hours a day , lot of tention i dont know how i can handle this lot of work so im confused between selling the new company or employ new people? any suggest pleas.

Did you resell the company or still you own it ?

 

[easyhostmedia]

Did you resell the company or still you own it ?

dont think they will answer you as it looks like they are one of many that will post a obscure question on HD and never return to reply.

 

[keithwarren]

Hello guys i have built a webhosting resseler company since 2 years and everything work well and very succesful so that make me think to build another web hosting company , i was built one in the last 4 month with good advertising strategies (google indexing/ social media pages / blog ...).
after 3 weeks working on this company i get new 11 clients also working in my first company and the work doubled i didnt have more time sleep just 3 hours a day , lot of tention i dont know how i can handle this lot of work so im confused between selling the new company or employ new people? any suggest pleas.

What types of issues you are really facing with your clients so that i will know how to advise you? You may be facing issues if you don't have a stable server or you did not install the required software/plugin/modules. If you are a reseller, you need to also check out the type of hosting you are reselling, if it is the one that is causing issues always then you need to move to another web hosting comapany that will allow you to rest a little bit.

 

[technicalguy]

Good thread - I absolutely agree with the comments to only have one hosting company.
I say this because I do currently have two and I agree it is too much.
(in fact I'd really like to sell one if anyone here is interested)

 

[easyhostmedia]

admins maybe this thread should be closed until such time the OP returns

 

[ServageOne]

If you need to run 2 hosting companies, you should have a definate purpose and core values as a reason. You can, maybe, offer only shared server packages on one and VPS/Dedi servers on other. I agree managing day-to-day affairs can be a pain, but there is always an option to outsource your support and sales to a 3rd party company which will give you amply time to focus on growth.