What exactly is the best way to go about starting your own web hosting business? Are there certain college courses that one would need to take or would you actually need to have some type of degree in telecommunications? Since I am not quite aware of all it involves being a web host, I'd like to have some idea of all the requirements of being a good solid web host.

There aren't really any courses for this, specifically.

It's possible to get a reseller account and start your business that way. Then you'd just need good business knowledge / sense, and you'd be able to figure out what other courses you'd need to take based on your own aptitudes, who you found to handle which aspects of a web hosting business, and what else you learn while you're in the industry.

If you intend to work with a reseller account and managed servers, you'll need good basic small-business knowledge: accounting, financial management, tax law, legal overview, marketing, et cetera. You may also want to add courses in communication (speech communication, business writing) since chances are you won't directly interact with many of your clients - you'll have to rely on email, IM, phone, and forums.

If you intend to manage your own servers, you'll need to add courses in web server and network administration, including security aspects.

It's also quite possible to "stack" these: learn the basic business aspects first, then learn the technical aspects and gradually move up to a dedicated server, colocated equipment, your own cage at a DC, whatever your business plans may be.

Whatever aspects of the business you decide to outsource to others - either third parties, or direct hires - I'd recommend taking an overview course on the topic so that, as the owner / manager, you have some idea of what services you're buying. You'll be slightly better equipped to make intelligent choices among outsourced vendors, and while you won't be able to spot 100% of bullsh1t that may come your way, you'll be able to catch some of it. You may also be able to take actions that actually help make these other folks' job easier and let them do more effective work for you, either by being able to clearly define your needs (your vendors will be so glad to have a intelligent client) or by being able to highlight areas where you want more focus. Don't take it so far that you micromanage them - that's not a good use of your time or theirs - but know enough to clearly define what you want and expect from them.

Once you start in the business, keep abreast of the industry. Read forums (a lot), read sites that touch on the hosting industry and the service industry in general, read-read-read. A lot. You never know when some article may spark an idea that helps your business.

Keep in mind that this is a service industry. If your customer relations aren't rock-solid, you can have all the technical savvy in the world - you'll still alienate clients. Providing solidly-running servers is only half the job. Helping your clients use the services well is the other half. The exact definition of " using the services well" varies from host to host...but that's part of how you find your particular niche. Define it for your business, regularly refine it, listen to what your customers say they want and figure out if / how to meet their needs.

Another side note: once you start learning these skills, you'll want to regularly go back for refreshers in things like legal matters, technological courses, anything that can change significantly in 3-5 years. Speech communcation doesn't change all that much. Neither does accounting, once you've got your books set up and maintained well. Technology and law morph frequently enough, though, that you'll want to update your overall knowledge of these frequently.

If you want to get more experiences on web hosting you can try to get jobs in web hosting companies. However most of the reseller hosting doesn't need you to be perfect on server maintain as all the work has been done by upstream company.

Thats a nice answer Lesli. I think alot of people aren't too sure of how they should prepare for a job like resellign hosting and just jump into it and don't know why it doesn't work after that. I especialy like your suggestion of learning about anything you outsource to make communication easier.

I think all of these ideas are really great advice. If I decide to follow through with this I want to know that I am doing it right. I don't want to jump in and have no clue how to run a hosting business. I think with a couple more computer and business college courses I might just have the confidence I need to take the plunge. Thanks for the helpful tips!

With an attitude like that, rylie, I think you'll do well when you start your business. Learn the basics before you start accepting money from people, then provide them the best service that you know how...and keep learning how to improve the service you provide. That's definitely the way to keep faith with your customers, and the best way to minimize the stress on yourself. (For me, there's little that's more stressful than trying to accomplish something with no idea how to actually make it happen.)

purple, I think you got it exactly. I think that a lot of people start up a business (not just a web hosting business, but any online business) without learning the basics of how to run a business. They don't know how to figure their profit, they don't know how to make a business plan, they don't know how to maintain or expand their business once they have a site set up. So many people have accepted the idea that you can magically make lots of money online without having to do much, or any, work yourself. It's like the gold rush all over again...or like Vegas. People get distracted by the glitz and the flash and the perceived glamor of not having an "office job" and a direct boss; and since they don't have huge startup costs, they don't realize that they're being nickeled and dimed to the edge of bankruptcy...and / or that they're not making enough profit to cover their expenses. I'd guess that about 1 in 10,000 people has the ability and the sheer tenacity to make their online business work even if they jump in with little or no preparation, either financial or informational. Those are lousy odds.

I agree with you. Yes they do not learn the business. And that is not really good thing. Because due to them we have damping the prices which are not hones and that is always difficult to compete with such guys.

Indeed, because we see time and again online, on TV and hear it on the radio. So many pyramid schemes are completely reliant on people like that putting up their money without the knowledge of how to make it work, and without those people the scammers wouldn't be able to keep going.

If your local college will cover the kind of courses you are looking at then you are in a good position to get started. If not, look at online courses, because some colleges will have rather restrictive pre-requisites for courses like web server administration, but there are generally online courses or at least access courses that will help you meet the requirements.

That's very true about all those schemes you see on TV and hear about on radio. It just blows my mind how some people try to sell others on the idea of becoming a millionaire while you sleep! What happened to the you can't get something for nothing theory? Technically my wah as a customer service rep is considered my own home business according to the company I contract for, but I can promise you I work. If I don't work, I don't get paid just like any other job. That's why if I ever started a hosting business I would want to know how to do it right so it would be something that is going to last for a long time. To me there's nothing worse than struggling with something that you know nothing about. The only way your going to learn is to study up on it and then work your butt off to do the job right.

Most people I know that started out of their house (some are still there years later mind you), will do so at home first and then extend into getting a local shop to run everything out of. The biggest issue for us was having a good net connection just for our office downtown but if you can find a place close to the net provider it helps.

Firstly, you have to gain as much as possible experience in online business that is to read a lot of articles and ask questions members of the forum for instance.

Secondly, you should design a pretty good looking web site and optimize it in order to attract and get more visitors.

Thirdly, you should choose reliable and stable company like MMhosting.com if you want your clients' sites to be always online and where you can buy affordable reseller accounts.

Fourthly, GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PROJECT!!!

1) Spend a lot of time on forums like these.
2) Ask lot of questions to all your doubts
3) Consider strongly about making a business plan (strongly recommend business plan pro software)
4) Get yourself a reseller account. Some even offer free billing client like WHMCS etc

Good luck. PM me if you need more advise.

Its a tough job with a lot of hours, good luck

And see how other companies have their things proceed....

There are classes that you can take but it is best to get in with an existing hosting company. Get your feel on how the whole thing works. Then you can take that and run your business with the knowledge and underdstanding on how it works and what customer look for.