how to start my own web hosting and domain selling buisness?

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acnephonestyle

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how can i start a domain selling and web hosting buisness like this from home.
do i have to buy domains to be able to sell them and how do i get a license to sell domains...and the most important thing if i start my own web hosting buisness how many servers would i need...etc
 
The market is highly saturated, unless you have something that is going to make you stand out a lot from your competition then I wouldn't suggest getting into this type of business.
 
HL-James said:
The market is highly saturated, unless you have something that is going to make you stand out a lot from your competition then I wouldn't suggest getting into this type of business.
Click to expand...

I would go to the extreme as to be advising someone NOT to get into this industry. I come across lots of local businesses that don't have a clue in how to setup a simple website. I am asked all the time and trust me, these people will happily pay to have presence online. There goes your local market - somewhere big players like HostGator, Site5, etc won't be able to enter, unless they are acquiring such vendor.

So there is definitely space in the market as it will only grow. I don't know what the actual retention numbers and rates are for the industry, but in my view there is also a large turnover of customers taking place all the time, so if your company is able to win those customers with great customer service - why won't they stick around?


acnephonestyle said:
how can i start a domain selling and web hosting buisness like this from home.
do i have to buy domains to be able to sell them and how do i get a license to sell domains...and the most important thing if i start my own web hosting buisness how many servers would i need...etc
Click to expand...

It doesn't take much to start.

1. Sign-up for a reseller account with a web hosting company.
2. Sign-up for a reseller account with a domain registrar (such as GoDaddy.com or NameCheap.com)
3. Open a merchant account.

And you are off to a very very simple site.

Of course there is more to web hosting than just selling hosting. As James pointed out correctly, you have to differentiate yourself somehow to attract attention. However, one of those things that you can stand out on (and something that is often overlooked by startups or active companies) is customer service. If you can passionately provide superior service to your clients, you will succeed in any market.

Best,
 
If there were ideas that would make you stand out, competitors wouldn't let you know. They would use those themselves.

If you do not have any experience at all then you should start reading up on things, getting involved in the industry, visiting some of the forums, etc. I would give it atleast a year or more before jumping into the business from this point.
 
For starters,

if you don't want to get in to seriously, and always have a possibility of backing out.

- Go with a Managed VPS Server running on Centos with cPanel/WHM, basic, from good host
- Signup with ResellClub.com
- Get yourself a nice website design and good domain name for your hosting business
- Use a automation software to manage your client signups, accounts, support area. Great example, WHMCS, can be paid for monthly. A good host will assist you in installing this at no charge :)

Hope this helped a little bit.
 
How you can stand out: there's as many answers to that question as there are people. Best advice: be yourself. Know your own strengths and weaknesses, and sell your personality and approach to business as much as you sell the service.

What kind of training you'll need: there are, and are not, courses that teach you how to do this. Courses in running a small business could be helpful. A course in speech and / or communications will be your best bet, though. You'll be answering client questions, so you'll need to know how to understand their question, answer it thoroughly and well, and leave your client feeling like they've got an ally of sorts. Yes, you'll want to learn the basics of how to operate the control panel, and if you're not a researcher at heart, you'll learn to be (just to answer your clients' questions.)

Web hosting is a recurring-service business. You have to be there not just today, but next year, the year after that, and so forth. Be ready to make sure that whenever you are going to be away from your computer, someone will still be able to support your clients and answer their questions.

What you'll need to get started:
* a basic business plan
* a web hosting reseller account - less cost and less commitment than a VPS; and if you find that you plan to keep doing this, you can migrate to a VPS or a dedicated server when you have the client base
* a way to accept client payments online (Paypal, 2checkout are good widely accepted "starter" options in North America and a good chunk of Europe)
* a good research starting point (this forum is one of them; Google is another)
* a whole lot of patience :D

You may want to add embellishments, like: a way to resell domains, actual billing software, a client mailing list and / or forum, live chat software, what have you. But the above list will get you started with the absolute minimum.
 
For domain, I think Directi is ok. There are based on India though.
The bad aspect of godaddy is they are not integrated with most billing SWs.
 
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