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.

 

By Chris Jones

fireballhosting.com

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