Kiddie Hosts

As you already know the Majority is what 18 years old? Anyone under that age the contracts are void which leads to many issues. As to come to think of it 21 or 18 is the Majority... CLCook this is where you come in play!!! :)

CLCook said:
Very true. Many minors will run into difficulties when complying with the laws (taxes, registrations, etc.)
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For civil purposes, "of legal age" is 18. (Except alcohol usage).

Contracts signed my minors are voidable. This means that once they reach 18 they have the option of voiding their contract. If they don't after a "resonable time", then they "affirm" the contract. That's why you should never do business with minors! :-) Most states have special clauses for this situation. Texas protects businesses as well as minors.
 
I have to post my two cents.....

I am 20 years old. I run a great hosting company. My clients are very happy and I sacrifice things that 20 year olders do to run my business. I make sure my t's are crossed if I am going to be gone to a concert or something. In the 2 years since I have started, we have moved into an office have worked with some large companies and present a business image. When I tell my clients im 20 they are astonished how well I deal with them for a 20 year old. Yes, 14 is a little young but if they can do it and pull it off... More power to them, although highly unlikely. I know a few huge hosts that have thousands of clients whose owners are a year older then me and they all started before they were 18 too. How about this... If a 14 year old or whatever ages hosts sucks, they get bad reviews just like yours would if yours sucked and if there good at what they do, then they'll get good ratings. I bet there are 16 year olds out there that can run a business better then a 30 year old. How about a directory that list crappy hosts all together? Thats a good idea.
 
Kyle,

You're right. There are MANY young people that are very capable of running a business. However, the majority are normally not ready for such a thing and their business reflects their age. Of course, there are always exceptions. And, of course, there are many older people who don't have what it takes to run a business, either.

You have a nice site, BTW.
 
TheReason said:
After running into hosting companies that are run by little kids I feel like there should be a central website where everyone can list hosting companies that are run by 14 year olds and younger. What does everyone feel about this? In my opinion if you base your company solely on the money that you are able to save then you are in big trouble, but many people ask what happens when there wonderful kiddie host decides to go down for the summer because they want to go outside and play! :mad:
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And if you base a hosting company solely on the age of the owner you wont get very far in life.
 
demonater10 said:
And if you base a hosting company solely on the age of the owner you wont get very far in life.
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I disagree - would I spend $400 yearly with someone who is 14 years old and has a reseller account if I knew they were only 14with dads credit card? no-one would, I would like to see anyone argue the case. There has to be an age base - to be honest I think this is about 18, although i have seen younger hosts.

It really comes down to life experience - I wouldnt trust an 18 year old to invest my life savings. It's not to say that some young people cant do it - but unless they have "lived and learned" I'll hide my money.

Same goes for older - I wouldnt invest my life savings on a "new business venture" if they were older than xxxx age (hiding my personal views!).
 
Here is a post which i posted at NamePros, I believe it can contribute towards this discussion.

Zeeblo said:
IMHO, you just can't accept the fact that NOT all teens run a business the way you think they do. Anyone of any age can be mature and stick to their promises if they know and want to, they can do it! Your completely underestimating teenagers just because of the fact that you had a bad experience with a teen running a webhost, that's just not the case here, just because you had a bad experience with one teen, it doesn't mean you can generalize and think that ALL teens are of this nature.

We are ALL different people and unique in our own ways. The way you see things is that ALL teens are the same and just immature when in fact, your the one that needs to stop generalizing and actually try to think outside the square for once.

Like Barefoottech mentioned, Apple was started by two young boys in a garage, what's wrong with starting a webhost in your bedroom?

The general point i'm trying to get across is the fact that not everyone is what you think they are unless you actually try to get to know them. You think that because we are teens, we are not capable to understand and comprehend certain aspects in that only adults can? Your absolutely wrong man :) Not ALL of our brains are as small and undeveloped as you may think.

Besides, if teens didn't start early in the business, you think big and successful companies like Apple, etc. would exist right now?

Man, just try to understand me here, anyone of any age can make a business successful if they have the will and if they believe in themselves.

If people didn't take AGE as seriously as they do at the moment, I think that ALOT of adults and older people in general would have a GREAT time doing business with teenagers.
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Well let me put it this way... If there are any really good young host that work out of there room, you probably wont ever know because they are smart enough to make it look like they are operating a great hosting company. Customers care about one thing... SATISFACTION. Are they getting there moneys worth, are they kept happy. If your doing that, I don't think they will question you very much or even care where it's being ran from. I know some of the "bigger" host companies owners who started out young and look at them now. I'm not going to say who because I wouldnt want someone to judge them on there age, I want them to judge them on there service.
 
Just FYI - to start, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs were 26 and 21 respectively in 1976, when the Apple Computer Company was formed (as well as their first preassembled computer circuit board). That blows that theory out of the water, as they were of legal age to start a business.

It still boils down to the legal issue for me. No matter how smart, how mature, or anything like that. It doesn't matter to me but you sure as heck better be legally running a legitimate business venture if I am entering into any type of contract with you. No disrespect to anybody, but if you can't legally back your business up, it is too risky to do business with you.

You may be "smart" or "mature" but if you are fooling people into using a business that is not legal, then you are not as smart as you think you are - you are showing a lack of business ethics that, in my opinion, will carry to the future. If you don't think the rules apply to you now, are you going to stop this mode of thinking and go legit the minute you are of legal age to? I somehow doubt that...
 
I started a hosting business back when I was around 14-15 although with a slight twist. I started www.myimgs.com when image hosting was just a theory. We were one of the first image hosts around. When ever someone had an issue with the site they would be glad to shoot me an email because of the quick response they recieved from me and almost always I resolved their issue. The site was totally custom programmed by me and ran rather smoothly. Luckily I eventually got out when I did because of all the other image hosts coming up.
 
PlexiHosting said:
Just FYI - to start, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs were 26 and 21 respectively in 1976, when the Apple Computer Company was formed (as well as their first preassembled computer circuit board). That blows that theory out of the water, as they were of legal age to start a business.

It still boils down to the legal issue for me. No matter how smart, how mature, or anything like that. It doesn't matter to me but you sure as heck better be legally running a legitimate business venture if I am entering into any type of contract with you. No disrespect to anybody, but if you can't legally back your business up, it is too risky to do business with you.

You may be "smart" or "mature" but if you are fooling people into using a business that is not legal, then you are not as smart as you think you are - you are showing a lack of business ethics that, in my opinion, will carry to the future. If you don't think the rules apply to you now, are you going to stop this mode of thinking and go legit the minute you are of legal age to? I somehow doubt that...
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Very good points. I agree with every one of them. Most of my hosting acquisitions come from kiddie hosts. Although I feel they endanger the hosting industry at the same time they help it grow. Other companies can benefit from the kiddie hosts loss.
 
Well i would just like to admit that i am a kiddie host at the age of 15. Many people seem very happy with the service i am very capably providing them. I have spent ??? on my business using my own debit card, i depend on myself and my server provider, no-one else.

You live and learn its the way life is, iv learnt not to trust most people, but u have to take chances and starting my own business has to have been 1 of the biggest chances iv taken.

Too bad if i loose money, atleast iv had the experiance. Not too many people could say that they ran a successful hosting company when they where 15.

<< MOD NOTE: Self promotion is not permitted >>

Why judge people by their age and not how good a service they can provide you.
 
I judge people by whether they run a legitimate business. Stay above board, pay your taxes, register your business appropriately to do business legally (however that may be wherever you are - even simply being a sole proprietor as is done frequently in the U.S. and claiming appropriate taxes/income) and you're cool. Stray from that, and you aren't running a legal business and aren't worth the used toilet paper floating in the bowl.
 
I think this is an interesting topic. In the state of NJ you cannot get working papers until you are 14 and that is allows you I believe 4 hrs per day including school.

At 16, I think they can work a couple of more hours, but not many.

How does one own and operate a business at that age? I just cannot see how it is legally possible. Perhaps it is, but I just do not know the laws.

Now, I am 31, and have been tooling around the web industry for five years almost six, and I learn something almost everyday!

But, from my full-time job the biggest thing I have learned is customer service....and that is something a 13-18 (even 20) yr old may not have. Customer Service is key.

When I was getting Reseller Accounts I seemed to get screwed every where I went, and the last time was by a 17yr old.

He provided great service, and was always on-line, unless the server crashed!

Best part was, through the www I found out he kept getting shut off for non-payment, but he made up all these excuses of it was the server, it was the Data Center!

I now lease a dedicated server!

As for kids....I just want to know how they legally do it... I had a boat load of paperwork to fill out when I formed my LLC!
 
Well i have a small view on this
Anyone who or thinks about owning a business should be at least of adult age 18+ some 21 in various country's.
Also having a credit check done against that person
Ive seen alot of people , clans and seriously stupid people try and set up a business to make a quick ? or $ and its wrong.
They make a bad name for us stable mature Experience businesses out there.
Im not saying that young people shouldnt start up anything at most they should have parental concent.

Thanks for listerning
 
Nick said:
As I've stated before, it's not age that matters. It's the quality of service that matters...
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I can't say I disagree, but I also can't say I agree.

There are many factors to consider that are often related to age -- most importantly the legality of the 'business' entity!
 
I have no problem with kiddie hosts, unless they steal my clients... I reckon they should be aware of the things of becoming a host, that they have commitments to their clients, and that a reseller account doesn't usually do much :P

And quality does matter, age and such is only a number, as long as they can provide fast and detailed support, it's all cool.
 
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