Should you become a web hosting reseller?
Posted January 6, 2020 by Lee
Every website on the internet needs web hosting (of some variation). Think of it like having office premises – a space which the business can call it’s own. Usually, you purchase this from a web hosting company (like us).
But just who gets to become a web host, anyway?
The truth is, anyone can set up their own web hosting company easily by becoming a reseller. This model allows you to purchase hosting in bulk, at a discounted price, which you then sell on to others for profit.
Is this business model one that might be right for you? Let’s weigh the sides.
You should become a web hosting reseller
There are some great reasons to become a web hosting reseller. First is the profit. You are selling something that is in high demand, so there is a high chance that you will be able to make great sales and therefore significant profits. Unlike other business types, you don’t have to ship a product or spend every day working on delivering a service. Just be there to deal with customer complaints and technical issues, and the rest is easy street.
This is a popular and growing business niche, and there is a reason for that. It’s a job which is protected from all kinds of problems – you can pretty much run it on your own, so there’s no office politics, no need to follow orders as you’ll be your own boss, and very few overheads. You just have to pay for the cost of the hosting and some marketing, and you’re done.
So long as you have the right marketing in place and well-priced packages, the hosting will more or less sell itself. Just present a trustworthy and reliable business, and your customers will opt for you. Maybe people looking to host a site don’t know much about how it really works, so a reasonable price is all they are looking for.
You shouldn’t become a web hosting reseller
Marketing is essential in this field, as you need to compete with other resellers as well as the primary web hosts themselves. You need to be able to make yourself stand out from the crowd, and be prepared to get yourself to the top of search engine results. The other way to do it is to invest in some adverts that will put you in front of the right customers.
If you don’t know anything about marketing, and you don’t have the time or money required to do that initial setup for your business, then this may not be the right niche for you. If you can’t sell on your hosting, then you will never make a profit. You need to get customers in to survive.
You also should not become a web hosting reseller if you are not at all tech-savvy. That it’s, you don’t need to be a computer genius either. You just need basic knowledge of how hosting works, and how to move a website from one host to another. If FTP server sounds like someone who would take your order at a fast-food restaurant, this isn’t the business for you. Unless, of course – you are willing to learn.
Web Hosting is not going away any time soon. In fact, the number of websites on the internet just keeps growing, and they all need to be hosted somewhere. From that point of view, web hosting reselling is a very viable business. You just have to decide whether it is suited to your skills and the amount of commitment you are willing to put in!
Categories: Reseller Hosting
About The Author
Aswin is a Website Developer at Fastnet Hosting.