“Small Business Hosting” ?

Hello to all DP fellows

I am in the middle of “something” so I might not be able to give you all the details at this point.

I want to know your opinion about “Small Business Hosting”. Do you think that with the existing big names, me or anyone else should jump into this hosting business??

I mean like if people can get 6GB space with 100Gb bandwidth account @ $7.95/month from a host who has a good repute already, why would they consider getting a small account (say 200MB or 300MB) for half of the fee ($3.5/month)???

I have been working on it since more than 3/4 months and I am seriously considering starting it. I know it’s a saturated market but I believe that if you can prove yourself better than many others, you are not going to lose much. Also, in hosting business, Price is not the only thing to consider. But for some reason, many people still see Price as there decision making object.

If I ask you to give your max. price for 200MB space account, what that would be??

 

The maximum I'd pay is honestly nothing. Like you said, there are inexpensive options, with much more space and resource allocation, from very reputable companies. I doubt there's anything you could say to convince me to pay even a cent for 200mb hosting from someone I've never heard of.

Maybe use the hosting space as a free add-on for selling something else? You could sell designs, templates, etc. and give free hosting with purchase to help drive sales perhaps.

 

i would buy 200 mb for 12 $ a year ( provided he can allow my hacking security related blog on it )

Wud b willing to pay like 3 $ mo if u can allow sex related content and 7 $ mo if you are lenient with the mails sent to thousands of members.

So basically it all depends on how well u can customise the plans for someone.

 

Basically he's saying it depends on whether running a "respectable" business matters to you or not. lol

 

Yea. I understand.
I am actually not selling web space as "stand alone" thing. I m trying to target "something" along with providing all features that I can at my end... As I said, I cant give details at this point.

The thing is, in the start, I might not be able to provide more than 200MB. But I do know, the kind of sites I am targeting can be hosted with even less space. So, that’s why, I am asking for your price.

Let’s just make it a package.
200MB space with 5GB bandwidth with all standard features you need with hosting. (Including one free domain registration)

Now, give me your Max. & Min. price for this.

I got your point.
If anyone wants to go for quick earning, he is left with these things. But this is not for me. I am not looking for “Quick Earning”. Still with this package, I m not going to earn that much. (believe me, I care more for my users than my profit)

But considering it as my start, I am happy to provide a solution for people who might need it.

If I will like to go for the other way, I might start "Adult Hosting" but then i wouldn’t need to ask opinion from you guys to give users the best offer

 

My prices on my hosting site are currently very expensive and will be dropped pretty soon. We're currently on $18.50 for 100mb with php.cpanel.fantastico. ect.... It will soon go down to about $5 Per year

 

$4.99 per month if it included 24x7 help desk and phone.
$2.99 per month if support was regular business hours (but still help desk / phone)
$1.99 per month if random support hours / no phone / etc

 

I don't try to compete. My basic hosting is $10/mo. Clients get something they can't get anywhere else... Me!

If you have a good reputation then people will have no problems paying.

I've picked up clients who have learned cheaper isn't always better. My hosting just works. I'm available to answer questions and solve problems. They're happy so I'm happy.

 

I wouldn't use your service at any price either nor would I use a host offering "6GB space with 100Gb bandwidth account @ $7.95/month". I do not care how long they have been around, their reputation up to this point, or anything similar. The reason why is as simple as going to look up the WHOLESALE price on bandwidth for even the largest of hosting companies. The numbers don't add up and there is always a reason it's that cheap.

I have watched dozens and dozens of webmasters go with a low price hosting offer from a company that had been around forever in internet time (2 years or more) only to watch them lose everything overnight when the host had problems, the host cut and run, they booted their account for using too much b/w (see actual wholesale prices again), etc. Hosting is one area of business where you are better safe than sorry, I live from my sites and every minute of downtime = money out of my pocket.

As for offering something alongside hosting yes, people do this on ebay all day long. They require you not move hosts for x months if you buy their site or whatever.

Cheers.

 

Which reminds me, remember kids, backup, backup, backup, even if your "host" and I use that term lightly, is supposed to keep backups for you, always make sure you have your own, you get what you pay for, so at least when you're left sitting at your computer wondering why your site as well as your webhost's site is down you'll have the data you need in order to get set up and going on a new host.

 

Thanks Drig
That’s what I am looking for. An idea of affordable price to adjust my packages in a better way.

Well, I guess you r lucky person here. You are able to find people who know that the price is not the only thing in this hosting business. I m not going to compete with anyone. I am just trying to know what is a "suitable" price people can think of this package.

Well, you are right. But there are few hosts offering 50GB space with 750GB bandwidth @ $5.95/month and still they are getting many users each day. The basic problem is many people don’t consider anything other than price they are paying & the space/bandwidth they are getting. But guess what, such hosts r perhaps making most of the profit in this business.

I never used ebay so I don’t know about it. I am not going to make any such restrictions. It will be like any other hosting you get from anywhere else, its just that I will be focusing on one type of sites. Knowing that people with me will be more interested in uptime, reliability & better support rather than getting more space & bandwidth.

 

Guys..
I need some more suggestions.
I am sure there are many users who can give their thoughts on this. I am looking for some really good suggestions from you guys.

So, help me in providing a better solution.

 

i would suggest http://www.greenlush.com they offer reasonalbly priced hosting and good service. There packages are available on there home page

 

IMO you should start a free hosting with no ads for a year (at the least)
Then when you get a user base of about 10,000+ accounts impliment ads or something.
Specs should be:
200MB
2000MB Bandwidth
and main selling point "NO ADS"

 

Of course you suggest them, them is you.

We have hundreds of people paying for 100mb and 200mb packages. You need to pick a niche and show yourself as an expert in that area.

 

I think you should try hostgator becuase they are the best! although you can try this one www.netfirms.com/max (Not recommended though)If you want i can host you on my dedicated server aswell for a text link on your pr4 site Contact me on msn
Saad

 

check my footer....i have been using them for QUITE some time..almost 1.5 year...and they are so far the best!!

 

Thanks Keliix
Yup i am working on providing a solution to one type of sites. Not entirly like yours but you can say its going to be 50% like that

Saad, Perhaps you didn’t get my point. I am not looking for hosting, infect soon I m going to provide hosting to others. I was looking if people could give me their views on the price that is affordable. I am not going to offer packages in GB in start. But soon, I will be offering a solution to everyone. But for now, it’s only for people who need less space at cheap price.

Good luck with your host.
But they are the one destroying the hosting industry. They are the biggest oversellers and I wonder if anyone could get a decent speed on their servers. I would never host my important sites with them.

 

well they are the one with many satisfied clients

 

No, most hosts are counting on the fact that you will never use 50 gigs of space and 750 gigs of transfer to find out that they can't handle it. In fact, many of them make this clear somewhere on their site. Now tell me, do you think such a host will care to help you when your script is hard on the CPU, your MYSQL is slowing down their entire server, or you max out the memory? Exactly how much "support" do you think a person can give for $6 a month? You can't even hire a Filipino to run the phones at $6 / month, nevermind the give away price on hosting and hardware.

Hosting is a tough business with very very little profit per account, and that's on REAL PRICES. Let me link a couple...

http://www.phatservers.com/hosting_plans/virtual/index.html
$9.95 gets you 500MB of space and 25 gigs of transfer etc.

http://www.realitychecknetwork.com/virtual.html
$10 gets you 100MB of storage and 20 gigs of transfer etc.

I'd say 95% of people here are on cheaper hosts. Not something I'd risk my business with.