Getting Started

The decision to start your own web hosting business is not one that should be taken lightly. Careful planning is the most important step, and too many start-ups fail to plan for the road ahead.

Listed below are a few of the items you should be thinking about, especially if you’re planning on starting out solo in the beginning.

• Will you be offering 24/7/365 support? If so, are you willing to get up in the middle of the night to answer support tickets?
• What’s your budget? Plan on not breaking even for at least the first 12 months. If you’re planning on getting rich quick, you’ll be disappointed. The web hosting industry is a flooded market, and you’ll be competing with very large companies that have huge advertising budgets.
• What is your niche? Providing boiler plate cPanel web hosting by itself is not enough. You need to find a way to differentiate yourself from the thousands of companies in the industry. Whether you provide web design, SEO, or other services, or something else.
• Do you know how to manage a server? If not, are you willing to pay a premium for a managed server from your data center?

This is just a small fraction. Starting a web hosting company is like starting any type of small business. The only difference is that the barrier of entry is relatively small.

Take a look around the site and make sure you’ve taken the recommended steps before jumping in blind.