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Tapioca
NAT Warrior
I have been working as a webdesigner for some time and clients are constantly asking if I offer any hosting services. I am seriously considering to get into reseller hosting.
To you guys who are experienced in doing this, what are the pitfalls? Are there any maintenance routines I have to periodically do? What could go wrong? What do I have to take care of?
Any advice is appreciated!
Comments
I haven't done reseller hosting myself but as someone who saw a close friend going through the process, one thing was obvious: clients were constantly pinging for help and support for any kind of issue.
Make sure you pick a competent "partner" hosting. In case you need help, they are just a message away.
Secondly, as the other commenter mentioned, they may ping all the time for help. This is either your lack of documentation or lack of setting boundaries.
Hosting help is pretty much set it and forget it. They shouldn't be pinging you for unbroken stuff or how to do things. This would fall into the maintenance realm where it would have a separate charge.
I get asked if I'll do hosting (or SEO, or videography, or social media, or underwater basketweaving...) and I always answer the same way.
"I don't do hosting but I'll set you up with your own hosting account. That way if something happened to me your online property will still be protected."
I'll give examples of people who've come to me after their previous tech died suddenly, gradually ghosted, or (in once case) shut down due to a ransomware ransom they couldn't possibly afford.
I've never done reseller hosting but I have done real data-center-on-my-property hosting and... yeah... if at three in the morning a hosting client calls because their site has suddenly slowed down, gone wonky, or, worse, gone down you're 100% on the hook to crawl out of bed and fix it.
All credible hosting companies have online staff working in shifts, 24/7 year round.
I dunno. If you're already a good sysop then go for it. Otherwise web hosting and web design are as different as programming and photography: totally different areas of expertise.
The Royal Ram
I haven't done reseller hosting myself but as someone who saw a close friend going through the process, one thing was obvious: clients were constantly pinging for help and support for any kind of issue.