Do you know that It’s easy to start hosting companies nowadays, the hardest part is finding customers For Your business…
The hosting industry is extremely competitive and there are probably thousands of hosting companies (globally and locally).
Do you know You have to register your business if you started any online business in India you can register it as MSME or public or Pvt ltd
Depending on your starting capital, there are a few ways to start a hosting company.
- Do it as a reseller – find a big hosting company which offers reseller (managed) services. This means they will take care of the operating system behind the server so you don’t need system administrators at the beginning. It most cases these services also come with pre-installed Web Host Manager (WHM) for you, cPanel for your customers and WHMCS billing/support system. Basically it is a complete solution and can be easily set up.
- Rent a Dedicated server – this means you will rent a dedicated server just for you, but it won’t even have OS and you have to configure everything around the software (the hardware will be pre-configured for you)
- Purchase a server – this is the most expensive option and I don’t recommend it to start your company with. You have to configure everything, from the hardware part of your server to every bit of software that the server needs. System Administrator is a must-have in this case. You will also need a data center (rent a rack) that will store your servers, provide you the internet and power.
Let’s Discuss all options one by one
Option 1- Do it as a reseller
When it comes to option 1, you don’t have much room regarding the software you will be used to manage your customers and the accounts on the server.
How is Reselling Hosting is work?
Reseller hosting is a hosting model when the hosting server is rented from a hosting company in order to host third party websites. Simply speaking, you can be your own hosting company.
Everything’s very simple:
- Reseller rents a dedicated server for hosting. More often than not — with already setup cPanel and WHM, or WHMCS.
- The reseller creates cPanel accounts for his clients.
- Clients pay reseller for hosting, reseller pays the hosting company for the server, keeping the difference.
But Remember Some Points…
Don’t Go to cheap plans or Unknown company you must have to read Company reviews on Hosting review sites. Because some Websites offer you reseller hosting in 3-5K INR with unlimited space and bandwidth For Year But technically it’s not possible. Because if they are not well known than it’s possible that they also use a reseller plan from another company or have a dedicated server if they use a reseller plan than they also have limited space and bandwidth and they have to share with all its clients. Most Of this type of company use free chat integration service like tawk.to.
And if they offer unlimited space and unlimited bandwidth then why users buy dedicated service? So it should be a fraud.
They will provide you the worst service like server down so all of your site down so it’s the impact on your business
So Buy hosting from the well-known hosting company.
Or if you want to go with cheap plan website then make sure website domain register before 1 year because most of the time happens that company buys a one-year reseller plan and if it’s plan expire then they will shut down its service and your money waste.
Option 2-3
Option 2 and 3 give you a lot of freedom and you have to figure out which software you will use for pretty much everything. The essentials are:
Operation System – CentOS7 or CloudLinux – these are the best options;
Web Server – Apache / LiteSpeed / Nginx – Most hosting companies are using Apache (the most popular webserver), but if you want to offer high-end /high-speed hosting, you need to check LiteSpeed and Nginx.
Billing / Ticketing system – to mention a few, the most popular ones are WHMCS and HostBill – they will give you the tools to create invoices, automation tools, ticketing systems, etc. etc.
Web Host Manager – This software will take care of the hosting accounts on the servers, will manage the resource usage per account, etc. etc. Of course, the most popular one is the WHM. VirtualMin is a good alternative, there are others, but I won’t dive too deep into that.
Control Panel – this will be the control panel your customers interact with and perform various tasks like adding a website, emails, etc. The most popular control panel is cPanel, there are others like Plesk and DirectAdmin (but they are awful).
I won’t go into too much specific on how to configure each one of the software, but you get the idea.
After you have set up all of that, you will need a website for your hosting company and all system must work together to achieve a fully automatic and seamless process for you and your customers. You’ve probably used hosting in the past and you’ve seen what the process should look like. The less manual work you do – the better.
Note: with option 2 and 3, you might need to purchase license for every software you are using like WHMCS license, WHM license, cPanel license, etc. which will increase your expenses, compared to option 1 whereas a reseller, the hosting company you’ve purchased the reseller account from, will include license for those.
That’s pretty much the essential hardware and software you need to start a hosting company.
If you want to buy a virtual server keep in the reseller hosting phase in your mind buy only from a well-known company and must-read user review.
Now let’s think you have to buy all things now what next?
Tips for beginner
- Be on call –
It’s really important to stay on call (or even better — online) 24/7 in order to solve a problem before the client runs out of patience. Even if everything is set up perfectly, stay on call. Accidents happen and their quick resolution is exactly what will build your client’s trust in you.
- Be special – There’s a huge cloud of Hosting companies. Thus, invent a unique selling proposition. You will have to compete not only with other hosting companies but also with your own hosting company. So either drop the price down — which is a good option if all you need is to keep your clients for other services — or find an advantage that will outweigh the cost.
- Find Web Hosting Clients -: Once your systems are all configured and tested, you can start spreading the word and finding clients. Don’t be afraid to start with your friends and social networks. “Word of mouth” sales are critical to a new web hosting business, so ensure every customer walks away from your service satisfied and happy. This is the time to deliver personalized service with a smile. It will take many hours of hard work and will mean you are on call 24×7, but the payoff for your web hosting business is worth it. Once you have exhausted your personal networks, you can try the following routes to find customers:
- Facebook ads and Google AdWords
- Local print, newspaper ads, and relevant magazines
- Banner advertisements on websites related to your niche market
- Make Sure You Have Enough Technical Skills -: Before starting a web hosting company, ensure to have a sound technical knowledge on web hosting(cPanel, Linux shell command, LAMP troubleshooting, etc.), When any problem happens in server, you can make your client’s website to be down till you learn to fix the problem. Some time learning & fixing the problem can take days, So should have enough technical skills before starting.
Let’s Think How Much It Cost To Start Own Web Hosting Company
Reseller-:
Reseller Hosting -: Minimum 20k
Domain -: 700 INR
Website Design -: Minimum 10K INR
Total Cost For One Year 30700 INR
Second Year-: 20700 INR
Dedicated Server-:
WCMCS -: Up to 1000 Client -: 21,354 INR Without Tax
CPanel Licence -: 38515 INR Per Year For 100 Account
Dedicated Server -: 86000 Year
Web Development -: 10k Minimum
Total – 155869 INR
