What do I need to start a Hosting Company?

[Marcelll]

hi.

I'm Planning to start a hosting Company this year. But what LAW things and Buy things do i need to have.
Do i only need a Domain name, Reseller Hosting account somewhere(Including Webhost Manager Or how it's called), The company name registered as trademark, Bank account?
Or Do i need more things to do? I really need help because i can't find the answers Am i searching wrong?
Well i would be Happy with some Explaination about it.

Regards,

Marcel Doornbos

 

[Waiter]

Marcelll I think that you have to learn lots of things about web hosting. First of all that is very competitive sphere. Second there are a lot odа thing to learn. First time I wold recommend you reading. Read forums blogs and ask questions. Visit WHT for more infor about web hosting

 

[Marcelll]

Thank You, I allready read some articles about people who started hosting, And what issues they had with starting it. I now get a bit of a Visual of what i need. I'm now going to get to WHT to find out other things. Thank you very much for the Responce.

 

[squatter]

Marcell, are you in Europe or in the USA? Things seem to be much easier in the USA.

 

[Marcelll]

A pitty that i live in The EU.. The Netherlands.

 

[bbineshjacob]

Hello,
At first do understand web hhosting is not a simple thing and need lot of preparation.
Its a highly competated field. poeple who want a web host always looking for a reputated web host. Thats depend up on the level of service. Do create a good technical support team and then make a good customer contact both the phone and ticket system. Remember here we have lot of forums. If any bad thing will happen in your service, it will be a bad mark and also people don't accept you and your company.

 

[Marcelll]

Thank You that's a good Tip

 

[RagekiJohn]

You will require a reseller account as you have previously stated. It would also be recommended that you get a live chat program even a free one such as Crafty Syntax. I would highly recommend getting an automated billing and account creation system such as WHMCS since it is a lot more convenient. Although ClientExec is cheaper and I currently use it as well, it doesn't have a lot of features as WHMCS and will require a lot more tweaking to have it run the way you want it to. Also be sure to create a business plan and be prepared to experience some losses as it is rare for a host to profit on their first month.

 

[Marcelll]

Thank you very much for those tips. And for naming some software packages.

Is Cpanel And WHM combined a good system? And does it Manage the payments too?

 

[hborg]

In this day and age, most clients are expecting 24 hour support. Are you able to be on call 24 hours a day to handle all the technical and sales requests that will be coming in once you start your company?

You also may need to consider these matter:
1. How much time do I have to invest into this company?
2. Familiarity with the latest software and platforms?
3. Financial Investment
4. Hiring of Employees?
5. Resources/Steps To Start A Hosting Company.

cPanel and WHM is a very good combination for a newbie. If you have no knowledge in web hosting, I suggest you to start with reseller. cPanel and WHM does not manage the payments., you need a billing software such as clientexec, WHMCS, etc.

 

[Marcelll]

For support i thought about:
http://touchsupport.com

I allready thought about the reseller tip.
I will think about the rest and thank you for your reply

 

[Ross]

All i got to say about this is. You have to be prepared for anything. Honestly if someones site does not work for literally 5 mins they come asking questions. Also you got to know what you are doing in this business, you have to know what your servers have, you have to know what they are capable of. Also, you HAVE to know LAWS. That one is very important, WAREZ and illegal adult content on servers is not a good thing.

Basically what im saying is make sure you know the ins and outs before you step in to this game. Its harsh when you can only offer your services for $4.95 and the next guy with deeper pockets can offer the same package or better for $1.95. Gotta be prepared to take a hit otherwise you are not going to make any money at all.

Another note i would like to point out. If you are planning on a full fledged company, be prepared to shell out some serious cash. This stuff is not cheap at all.

If i were you try a reseller account for a while and then see if you really want to get in this game. Its harsh and takes A LOT of attention especially to the little details.

Edit: WHMCS is top notch!

 

[Marcelll]

Thank You for replying.
As i said before i was allready thinking of starting with a Reseller account.
I don't want adult sites and warez sites. I will Think really good about it, And first try a reseller hosting.

All those reply's Help me very much. Thank You!

 

[Ross]

Thank You for replying.
As i said before i was allready thinking of starting with a Reseller account.
I don't want adult sites and warez sites. I will Think really good about it, And first try a reseller hosting.

All those reply's Help me very much. Thank You!

Just because your TOS or you say no adult sites or warez sites does not mean people wont try to put them up. So make sure you do periodical checks on sites.

 

[Marcelll]

i know, I read that in an article too. That it's Better to do that.

 

[hborg]

Just because your TOS or you say no adult sites or warez sites does not mean people wont try to put them up. So make sure you do periodical checks on sites.

Yes, I agree with you.
Sometimes they are intelligent, hard to detect what they are doing and what they put in their hosting account. You will having this problem, but don't worry, you will know find the way to solve this type of problem.

 

[Marcelll]

Does anybody know if Bluehost or Hostmonster is using clientexec or another payment system?

 

[sirandy]

"What do i need to start a Hosting Company?"

Pepto Bismol



Tough business to start and maintain.

 

[~ServerPoint~]

I think that you need to try it first of all and reseller web hosting is the best way and the cheapest to start. Once you might understand that you are not interested...

 

[mdamin76]

To set-up your own server is quite particular. Why not you sign up as reseller or affiliate?