Launching a hosting company without dealing with billing/support

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Posted by 0ffshore, 12-15-2004, 01:46 PM
I'm interested in launching a hosting company, but I don't want to handle support and billing by myself. I will market the business but I won't answer support tickets as well as I won't have to open a merchant account and do antifraud check.
Posted by cywkevin, 12-15-2004, 02:00 PM
Lets see. So you want to launch a hosting company without really doing any actual work except possibly marketing. well outsourcing support will cost you and you could get a billing application such as modernbill, webhostmanager autopilot, or clientexec. Personally I don't think you should bother undertaking such a venture if you don't want to do the grunt work.
Posted by Lordo, 12-15-2004, 02:15 PM
I agree. Although you can find companies that offer end customer support on your behalf, if you will not personally be in business, do not bother.
Posted by iSew, 12-15-2004, 02:58 PM
You may want to consider learning more about affiliate/partner programs out there. They give a (often large) commission for referring web hosting customers to them. For a popular example visit/signup at www.cj.com for pricing details about that. Or you may want to look around for hosts that have "agent" or "Authorized Dealer" programs. You become a sort of dedicated sales rep for them and in return they handle all the billing/tech support for "your" company. Example: www.HostCentric.com (not vouching for them as a company, just an example) Your last option is to go with a completely free reseller account from a company like www.Resellerspanel.net or www.Bulixhost.com ..these are programs that I've seen get mixed reviews. You be the judge. ...oh and you can also check out www.wildwestdomains.com which prices <$89/yr but is very popular these days.
Posted by Wapture, 12-15-2004, 06:51 PM
Ok to me you just want the money... I must be the first to say that being in this business is not just about the money. Ok, we all need to make a living but that isn;t the reason why we went into the business. Web Hosting is about pleasing and offering a quality service to the Internet users who are in need of such service. I personally went into this business because I wanted to offer the service that a few other companies didn't. I wanted to see customers happy with what they have got and be happy that they can trust atleast one company out on the Internet (and by no means do I mean just us, there are thousands that they can trust - figure of speech).
Posted by WarpFactor, 12-15-2004, 07:00 PM
I think your best option is to become a sales rep at another company. You want to run a hosting company, but what to outsource the work that it requires? I've got to be able to contact the owner and get support from them before I buy from any company, except for HP or Apple of course
Posted by Wapture, 12-15-2004, 07:05 PM
Well speaking to the owner is a bit far off to be honest, but yes you need to be able to get the support from the companies staff not other companies staff before you buy.
Posted by R.Harrison, 12-15-2004, 07:25 PM
try: http://www.varhosting.net they support their reselling clients with 24/7 live support.
Posted by iSew, 12-15-2004, 07:37 PM
varhosting.net and all the other "end-user support provided" hosting companies don't handle billing(which is what 0ffshore asked for in 1st post)
Posted by R.Harrison, 12-15-2004, 07:38 PM
indeed, but their accounts come with ClientExec which does, doesn't it?
Posted by iSew, 12-15-2004, 07:41 PM
As much as billing systems may automate a company, you still need to administrate and handle things like fraudulent orders and etc. Every story I've seen on WHT about leaving CE or ModernBill or WHMAP alone for extended periods is generally bad. Several things can go wrong. For example cPanel upgrades often break the programs. Also customers often have trouble with their orders and need help to cancel/upgrade or deal with bandwidth overages.
Posted by hawhaw, 12-16-2004, 11:42 AM
There are such opportunities out there. You may want to check this link: http://www.bluegenesis.com/flexresell.html Their Commission only program says that they do all of the billing and technical support. You just do the marketing. Of course, you need to satisfy yourself that the tech support is up to the standards necessary for you to even want to be involved there - as they are you in your clients eyes. Good luck.
Posted by IHSL, 12-16-2004, 11:55 AM
Clientexec is a billing script. It still needs a merchant account tied to it. Simon
Posted by iSew, 12-16-2004, 01:03 PM
iPixet PM'ed me with a good question asking to clarify what I meant regarding this quote. Meant that -- from my understanding -- they don't handle billing *issues* that almost inevitably arise as a host. In other words, if a client decides to open a support ticket and ask to change to a different billing scheme or etc, they won't handle it(at least that is what Live Support told me) but instead will just contact me(the reseller). They gave the answer something like that "you don't wan't us handling your money obviously" which I believe is a reasonable statement. (Not verbatim quote btw, bad memory ) Obviously, some people probably wish they would administer billing though. Guess that is what affiliate programs and "Authorized Dealer"/Hosting Agent programs are for. ;-) BTW if I'm wrong about anything, please do tell me
Posted by marksy, 12-18-2004, 03:02 PM
I think hostopia will handle all that for you
Posted by csandovalm, 12-21-2004, 08:56 AM
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Posted by 0ffshore, 12-21-2004, 02:03 PM
Many thanks to all for the great thoughts. I'll need some time to review all ideas, and probably make a decission shortly.
Posted by reseller8, 12-21-2004, 04:00 PM
I think xlshost.com will handle all that for you I think.
Posted by joshuayip, 12-22-2004, 09:59 PM
Alternatively , you can search in WHT, where someone actually post "I want to start a web hosting company, but I dont want to handle marketing". However, I have seen your kind of thread mostly. It would be interesting to have the other one, and see how many ppl is wanting to do just marketing , effectively. Joshua