The Business of Reseller Hosting

Reseller hosting is the business of providing web hosting services owned by another web hosting company to end customers. Reseller hosts provide website design and management services as well as hosting services to users. Generally, a reseller will buy a product or service from another company, repackage it by adding something extra and resell it to other companies under its brand name. This means that the reseller acts as a middle-man, creates brand-image, finds customers and hosts their sites on the servers owned by the original hosting company. Naturally, this also means larger sales and profits for the original web host.

Entrepreneurs can make a decent living through reseller hosting, as it is a great business opportunity for people who want to create a stand-alone business venture. It also opens up allied opportunities for those with parallel businesses who can combine web hosting with their other services. Let's take a closer look at the advantages.

Branding Opportunity: The best part of the reseller hosting business is that one is able to create one's own brand even though it is another company that provides the web hosting service. For example, as per the reseller hosting program of the reseller company need not get involved in the technical aspects, but can certainly market the service under its name at prices of its choosing.

Competitive Edge: The reseller has the opportunity to offer other services which can be used in conjunction with web hosting accounts. These include merchant accounts, SSL Certificates, search engine optimization and domain name registration. That's almost money for nothing.

Cost Optimization: Reseller hosting does away with the need to maintain expensive in-house hardware such as different types of servers, backup generators and other network equipment and connections required to host Internet web sites.

Market Expansion: A reseller can cash in on the ever increasing numbers of businesses and individuals who are migrating to the web. That's almost unlimited scope.

Now that you know the benefits, we're sure you wanna pick up this lucrative business option! But the business of reseller hosting is not without its red flags.

~ You need a large site and the ability to market through
various channels to justify the initial costs associated with reseller
packages.
~ You need to be cost competitive as compared to other resellers
with similar services.
~ Ensure that you have adequate bandwidth for the number and type of sites you need to support. Check out to understand the different levels of storage and bandwidth offered.
~ Make sure you secure Service Level Agreements for technical
support and hardware repair from the web hosting provider.

Although you don't need to maintain very sophisticated hardware, you will still need some. Take care when you make that purchase.

~ Check for the brand name of the hardware. Does it enjoy a reputation for reliability and after sales technical support?
~ Check for the speed of the CPUs in the servers as this will directly correlate with the load speeds of customer websites.
~ Ensure the hardware can offer backup options, such as drive mirroring. This will help keep a synchronized copy of all data for easy backups.

Bearing these points in mind will certainly improve your chances of success at reseller hosting.

Hi, I'm Akhil Shahani, a serial entrepreneur who wants to help you succeed. If you like to work smart, check out http://www.SmartEntrepreneur.net It's full of articles and resources to help you start and grow your business successfully. Please visit us & download our special "Freebie of The Month" at http://www.smartentrepreneur.net/freebie-of-the-month.html