pain with growth ?

[RaviAgarwal]

Everyone wants to grow as fast as possible and we all work hard too for that. I was just wondering the pain associated with growth.. ofcourse in hosting.

I know, there is some degree of pain associated with every gain

Thank you for all your valuable inputs..

 

[Senad]

Yes and No. If a company really cared in regards to customer service they would shut down sales (such as what ThePlanet did). Most companies however will tend to believe that they are doing just fine and will keep accepting sales and the staff per person ratio will become unbalanced until problems start to arise...in which they will balance it in the end (most of the time).

 

[aeromit]

I think everyone should have a good business plan and to follow it. If you get "better sales than expected" then you should invest in equippment or in workforce.

cheers

 

[Senad]

The problem is you cannot always follow your business plan. A business will evolve their business plan if problems occur.

 

[f9-Will]

For all companies period, growing too fast, will result in a instant decline.. Selling more than you can support, that it what has disappointedly happend to our large hosts today.

 

[RaviAgarwal]

For all companies period, growing too fast, will result in a instant decline.. Selling more than you can support, that it what has disappointedly happend to our large hosts today.

That's a hard reality. If your sales is growing very fast, you have to invest heavily and cope with growing demands from existing customers.

Is there any example where there is growth in number of customers leaving company as company gets more sales ?

 

[cats-hosting]

Site5 is one.

 

[Zachary McClung]

One step ahead

Hello,

Business Plans are great, increased sales are great, investments are great; however, if you are proactive to situations you wil always come out better. Some companies play catch up and other are always one step behind. Then there are the companies who are proactive.

It does not cost much or even much effort to train someone to do basic support. Or, even to maybe use those companies who outsource to stable things out for the time being. Isn't it better to be right on target or a little ahead then to drop the sales that you were so happy to get?

A great example of a company who had this issue was tektonic.net. I do not know if they ever recovered; however, forums a couple months ago were being fired away at the company because of their abiility to answer questions and set up accounts. It was all do to the fact they were not proactive.

Happy New Years!!!

 

[mrzippy]

It does not cost much or even much effort to train someone to do basic support. Or, even to maybe use those companies who outsource to stable things out for the time being.

It doesn't cost "much" is 100% dependent on your business stragegy.

For example, most hosts these days have pricing that is too low and is not sustainable for business growth, even if they use an outsourced support company.

Some "budget" companies make a profit of only $100 per server, even with 500 customers on it! So if they have to then pay $100 to a support company... *poof*.. there goes their profit.

Most "budget" companies follow the same cycle of birth, growth/success, rapid decline, and then death.... because their business "strategy" doesn't give them any ability to move beyond a one or two person support team.

To answer the original poster's question, I believe the most common "pain" associated with growth is dealing with increased support requirements. If you can't afford to hire good quality support staff, then your business is going to eventually die.

 

[Zachary McClung]

Mrzippy,

I do understand what you are trying to get at. As for budget hosting and the small hosts, I see that short-term profit is more important to them then long term success. I am not trying to stereotype. I am going off my own experiences and it might not be the case in every budget host.

I know with my own company that I can easily train and be proactive when it comes to growing pains. In our design department, we are going through the similar pains that hosting companies see. There is to much work and not enough people.

I believe though, that when it comes to technical support and “training” that there are short-term solutions to personal problems.

I do believe that every hosts choices to be what they are. If a hosting company is going to have 500 customers on a server and only make a $100.00 profit that is great. If they plan to hit a rough time that might make them fail. We see hosts raise and fall on a daily basis. We also see more expense hosting companies’ costs more but five years later still running strong.

 

[HMarker]

I agree with aeromit. If the company has a solid and trustworthy business plan, growth should not be a problem. Controlled growth is good of course as long as growth increases the profits and doesn't generate uncontrolled risks and uncontrolled expenses.

 

[Sabeur]

There is no reason not to grow, If you have alot of clients you have money to pay for support and sales staff and it will be a good idea to get good support staff.

 

[Aussie Bob]

Yes and No. If a company really cared in regards to customer service they would shut down sales (such as what ThePlanet did).

It's been widely reported that their reasoning for shutting down sales had nothing to do with their customers. It was a lack of capital/cashflow issue.

I've stopped new accounts several times in the past. Sometimes you just need a break, and catch your breath, and then move on with more growth. It's not that difficult to increase your infrastructure as your revenue/client base increases.

 

[Artashes]

I've stopped new accounts several times in the past. Sometimes you just need a break, and catch your breath, and then move on with more growth.

I admire people who make those kind of decisions. Not many companies, or entrepreneurs running them, are capable of making them. Decisions like these are critical to successful operations, and way too often inexperience and lack of education will take over the minds of those who are ready to threaten the well-being of existing clients just to secure some revenue. When you are at the stage where acquiring new customers is not tedious task, the priority should be existing client base.

As Aussie Bob said, its not that hard to increase your infrastructure when you are growing at a level when pausing the sign-ups is a healthier long-term business choice.

Best,