Over a year ago now, I launched my managed WordPress hosting business, Book Host. I thought it would be interesting to reflect on some of the pros and cons of running a hosting business.
Pros of running a hosting business
I can provide my clients with a high quality server.
My husband and I have both put a lot of time and energy into creating a REALLY FUCKING EPIC server. (If we do say so ourselves.) I value having a ridiculously fast site, and if that’s something that I value then I know other people do too. My Book Host clients get everything that I get here on Nose Graze. That includes:
- SSDs
- Varnish caching
- Nginx
- The latest technologies (HHVM)
- Plenty of delicious RAM
Combine all those and you’ve got yourself one hell of a website.
Creating an insanely fast and awesome website is something that I love doing for myself. So being able to turn around and do that for other people is equally awesome. I ADORE getting comments from new clients saying, “My site is so fast!”
It’s nearly passive income.
A hosting business isn’t entirely passive. I answer support tickets and perform both free and paid migrations. But those don’t really happen that often. I think I average less than one support ticket per day, and most support tickets take only a few minutes to respond to.
So other than a few exceptions, a hosting business is like having passive, recurring income. For little or no work, you bring in extra money per month, and that’s pretty awesome.
It’s so much easier to help clients with their problems.
The one thing I kind of dread about answering support tickets related to plugin or theme sales, is when there’s a big enough problem that I require access to their blog to do some digging. Especially if that digging involves debugging the code.
It’s kind of a pain having to ask my clients for login details, and then it’s even more of a pain if they don’t even know their login details. Then if I start digging through code, there’s SO MUCH pressure on me to not screw up. If I typo or leave off a semi-colon, I could cause a syntax error, which could bring down their whole site. It’s a lot of pressure! (Those errors are easily fixable via FTP, but then I have to ask for FTP login details and most of my customers don’t know what those are!)
But if it’s one of my hosting clients asking for help, I already have access. It’s so easy to look into and fix the problem. And if I do make a mistake, I already have the access I need to fix it straight away.
Cons — it’s not all great
Sometimes there are problems outside of my control.
I think this is what I hate the most.
There are two parts to a website: the domain name and the hosting. These are SEPARATE things and both can exist without each other. But when you buy a domain name for hosting, something called DNS records connect the domain to the hosting server. These DNS records tell your computer which server the domain name should lead to. That’s how you end up on my server and see my blog posts when you type nosegraze.com into your browser. The DNS records tell your computer where to go.
However, the DNS records aren’t something I control. Those are done through a third party—eNom. There have been two cases in the past year where eNom’s DNS servers have gone down. When this happens, my clients’ websites stop working. The server they’re paying for on Book Host is still up and running and accessible. But the DNS records that tell their computer which server to go to are broken. That means the domain name doesn’t know where to go, so they can’t access their websites even if the server is working just fine!
When this happens, it’s out of my hands. It’s a problem on eNom’s end and I can’t control it. But it’s that lack of control that I hate!
- I hate telling my clients that I can’t do anything about it.
- I hate telling them that their sites are offline and I can’t fix it.
- I hate telling them that they just have to “be patient” or “wait until it’s fixed”.
I feel like I’m letting them down. I know how scary and frustrating it is when your website goes down. When it happens to me I FREAK. So I know my clients freak too. I totally and completely understand! So I hate putting them in a position where they just have to wait it out.
Am I even allowed to take vacations?
Even though running a hosting business feels like passive income, it also feels like a 24/7 job. It’s like being constantly on call.
- I’m afraid to take vacations. What if the server dies while I’m gone? I need to be able to fix it ASAP. I feel like I can’t go anywhere without quick access to the internet and my server. I can’t put myself in a situation where the server might die and it will take me 3 days to get home to fix it. That CANNOT happen.
- Am I allowed to take weekends off? If I do get a support ticket, I feel obligated to respond to it ASAP, regardless of what time it is or if I’m on vacation or if it’s a weekend. I know a large part of this is ME. Most of my clients are super understanding and even end their tickets with a comment like, “No rush! Whenever you have time.” But I put this pressure on myself to answer as soon as possible. I want my clients to get good service.
It’s stressful.
If something does happen that I need to fix but I’m not immediately sure how to do it, it’s INCREDIBLY stressful. I don’t want to keep my clients waiting. I want them to have a great experience, and if something is wrong, I want that fixed ASAP.
But sometimes I don’t know how to fix it. This is usually when I go crying to my husband for help. But then I feel guilty about bugging him, especially if he’s at work.
For the most part, I love my hosting business.
I’m glad I started it and I’ve learned a lot about managing a server. I get a lot of positive feedback from my clients, which feels GREAT! But it’s definitely a stressful job, and one that feels like I’m on call 24/7.
I think the important thing for me, moving forward, is to keep my hosting business small. I don’t want to cram my server or maximize profits or grow to have 5 more servers. I want to keep my business small and my clients happy. I think the smaller I keep it, the easier and less stressful it will be to manage.
First, I would like to say that I absolutely LOVE hosting with you on Book Host, and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it to anyone who has a self-hosted WordPress site 😉
I have never had any problems that were not my own fault, and they were easily fixed when I decided to use Book Host for both my hosting and domain management. I am tech naive, and for people like me it is PERFECT!
As for having me running any kind of “techy” business that would NOT be a good idea because I’d be clueless, but if I was maybe I’d think about it. It does seem to be a big commitment even though it is kind of passive income. Because you have to be available 24/7 just in case something does happen, and that is a big responsibility. So although I’m glad that you have done it, I personally would prefer not to. So thanks Ashley! 🙂
It’s so great to hear you say that, Stacy! 🙂 I love hearing that my customers are happy!
Happy it’s working out for the most part. I don’t know how you do it. Even when I am an expert at something, I get nervous I won’t be able to help someone when asked.
Yeah it is pretty scary sometimes. I’m very confident with all things WordPress but less confident with server things. I never would have started a hosting business if my husband weren’t an expert with server stuff. At least I have him to turn to if there’s anything I don’t know about that.
Between the two of us, I think we can handle anything. 😀
My Dad used to host websites on a server from our basement, and he had an awful lot of similar things to say, so I get when you’re saying. That said, allow yourself to take some vacations! I get where you’re coming from — you have a commitment to your clients. Have you considered letting them know in advance that you’ll be out of town an might be slow to respond to any unexpected server issues? I know it’s inconvenient, but I’m sure most everyone would be understanding of a couple of days every now and then.
Yes I always put up a notice in the client area when I’ll be on vacation. I still can’t help but feel bad about it, you know? I know exactly how I would react if my website went down for several hours:
1. Sad
2. Frustrated
3. Upset
4. Impatient
So I expect my clients to feel exactly the same way if/when anything happens, and I TOTALLY get it. I’m sure they would be understanding if I were on vacation, but I also think they’d be antsy about it, so I want to be there for them.
It’s just hard! Haha!
I would never be able to run a business like that as I don’t know enough about servers .I’ve learned enough about websites and hosting so I know how to manage my own sites, but even then i still have to look a lot of things up.
I understand the urge to reply as soon as possible, as I do the same. I do have a different business, but I don’t want my clients to have to wait on a reply to their e-mail or when they sign-up for a tour. I garantee a reply withitn 48 hours, but usually manage in less.
I am not sure if I ever will or allow myself ot go on a long vacation, or else I would take my work with me. I just feel bad when I can’t or don’t work or freak out thinking what if there are important e-mails to answer.
I do like the passive income aspect of your hosting business or with your premade templates, although you still have to do support and promote your business, it is easy money. I sometimes wish I could sell some sort of product, but with selling servcies it means you have to put time into everything.
Great post and it’s interesting hearing more about your hosting business.
I am so glad to be hosted by Bookhost! There’s literally know where else that comes close to matching the amount of friendliness and professionalism you provide your clients with, Ashley. 🙂
It’s been wonderful having you as a client Jack. 🙂 I’m so glad you chose my hosting!
I’m so glad you started your web hosting business! I’m super, super new to your server, but I LOVE IT. I love the themes, the ease of use, everything, but I totally understand how it must be for you!
I understand your frustrations over not being able to take a vacation, but honestly, I’d say go for it! Yes, if the server was to go down that would be awful, but it wouldn’t be your fault and I’d feel so bad if it’s us, your clients, holding you back taking a holiday!
Keep up the good work, Ashley! 🙂
It’s so great to have you! And I’m glad that you’re enjoying it so far. 🙂
First, I must confess I didn’t know you had a hosting service. Second, I could never run a hosting service because I have no tech skills. And finally, a 24/7 job is something that scares me. But congratulations on being so brave 🙂
Thank you Rosa. 🙂
Thank goodness for Book Host! I LOVE it and you have the best costumer service ever!
Thank you Liza! 🙂 You’re a wonderful client!
Ashley! Congrats on having a successful income from your hosting site! I can’t imagine how stressful that must be, so make sure you PLAN for vacation, hire someone for 3-4 days to take care of tickets so you can take a few personal days to not think about anything 🙂
Thank you Nora! 🙂
I could hire someone to answer support tickets, but I wouldn’t really feel comfortable giving them access to the server, you know? I’m REALLY big on security and lock down the server as much as I can. I just feel a bit uncomfortable with handing over the keys to someone else, if you know what I mean. 🙂
Well.
From what I see the best thing about running a web hosting business is that you can make lot of money and you can retire early and spend the rest of you life doing nothing or doing something fun. The bad part is only about 90% of the hosts are successful in the long run and even make it 10 years. Other part is its a full time stress full job (no matter how big you are) and might even have issues with your health and you might have less time for your self or your family.
Beside the money best thing about a host is that you get a chance to work with and get to know lot of people and it feels so good to help the people that depend on your services.
For most people web hosting is just a business but for few its a lifestyle and these are the type of hosting owners who succeed in the long run.
This was a fantastic read – and so true! Web hosts have to be more than that….needs are evolving, and so Web hosts must evolve, too. Please keep the insight coming!
Thanks for sharing your valuable experience with us Ashley! Starting a hosting business is definitely not an easy task, and patience and commitment is must. But if you have managed to give your 200%, success will not be so far.
Elena