About 2 years ago I made an attempt to start my own hosting company and I bombed out big time. I registered the domain name, and signed up for the reseller account having NO experience, knowledge, or even a website -- it didn`t take very long to realize I made a mistake.
A year and a half later, after learning PHP and some things about web servers, I decided to give it another shot. In May 2003, I began work on a logo for the new site. As it turned out, it was simply a capital `C` with the twist filter in Illustrator. Looked to me like a fireball, so I decided to use it, and call my company "Fireball Hosting".
I began work on a website -- I could go the easy route and buy a template -- they aren`t that expensive, and they look pretty good. But I just didn`t want to waste my design skills, so I went ahead and made my own site. I like flat layouts, so that`s what I used; I browsed through some template sites, came up with a few ideas, and finally came up with something that clicked. I spent nearly 3 months designing the site, asking anyone I could find for their opinions. I got the site the way I liked it, and then proceeded to get things rolling. First thing was to pick a web host for my reseller account. After looking at all the factors that were important to me, such as price and service, I settled on one who was also Canadian like me. I registered my domain, www.fireballhosting.com , and uploaded everything. I got everything integrated with a custom signup script I wrote.
Next came the credit card processor. I went with 2checkout ( www.2checkout.com ) because the signup wasn`t expensive ($49usd) and the charge per transaction was low. After that, I needed a way of registering domain names. I was referred to enom ( www.enom.com ) and I signed up for a reseller account, and I filled my account with the minimum $100usd to use when registering and transferring domain names. With enom, I am charged $8.95 per domain name or transfer, and I charge my customer $10.95 (which, from what I have seen, is pretty cheap) so I make $2 off each registration or transfer. I also registered with PayPal ( www.paypal.com ) so I could use their merchant tools and allow customers to pay via PayPal.
I used this system for about a week, gaining my first customer, before realizing that it is a HUGE pain to process and keep track of everything manually. I needed billing software. There are tons out there, but Modernbill ( www.modernbill.com ) caught my eye. I liked the interface, and it seemed to integrate well. So I downloaded the trial and installed it. It was somewhat difficult to configure it to make it do everything I wanted it to do. So I think next time around I would spend the extra $29usd and have it installed and configured for me. Less problems down the road. Modernbill costs $99.95usd for an owned licence capable of having 100 clients, with 6 months of support, with an optional renewal for $29.95usd. Its really worth it and I would recommend it to anybody.
After I installed Modernbill I had two more signups, neither of them going smoothly. This is the point that the frustration began to set in. I started doubting myself. "Can I really do this?" I kept thinking to myself. Luckily my customers understood that it was a new system and there was bound to be bugs. It was at this point that I decided I was going to be able to continue with this project, and that I needed to register my business. I decided that LLC was the way to go for now, and possibly INC later.
This is where I am at now. And I am happy to be able to say that I feel like I did things properly. I didn`t jump into things like I did the first time. I didn`t go cheap with my decisions. I didn`t assume everything would be perfect. I am proud to say I am happy with my company, and I have no intention of having it bust.
Through all of this I`ve learned that there is much more to this industry then I thought. I`m still progressing and improving. I still need to get out some heavy advertising. But as long as I keep taking steps forward, things can only get better.
