Beginning Questions...

[Ignite]

Hello everyone, I'm about to startup my own web hosting business, I have a few things to say.

 

1. Hello, My name's Nick and I'm from down under, New Zealand

2. I'm using the free trial of WHMCS right now, and can I just say, that it appears it's all my dreams come true. (Well, not all, but let's not go there.....)

3. I'm brand new to the web hosting business, I'm very experienced with webhosting etc, and I know my way around, but this is the first time I've run one. Will WHMCS be worth it, for a brand newbie like myself? If so, can you convince me why? Because the cost, although I can afford it if It's really necessary, is a pretty big kick in the wallet for me.

4. It's great to see the awsome community here, and I'm highly considering it.

5. Which of the available domain registrars with WHMCS offer the cheapest domains?

 

 

 

Thanks

[Ignite]

-bump-

 

Hellooo?

[hoosierweb]

I just signed up and support helped me find an issue above and beyond what i was expecting..

 

Plus, if you are like me and charge a reasonable price for your hourly work.. (My minimum is $45 for the first hour) The software quickly pays for itself since I no longer have to set up each account.. then there is the automated billing.. that in itself saves me from having a billing dept

 

It really allows a small start up to have a light payroll consisting of just tech support people (myself) and letting the business run itself for the most part

[othellotech]

You dont need to bump threads, most of the people here are experienced wnough with forums to know how to click on "view new posts"and making yours new again with a bump wastes all our time

 

>3. Will WHMCS be worth it

 

compared to what ?

vs a-n-other billing platform - that depends on your requirements

vs doing it all manually - that depends on how many clients/orders you get and how much your time is worth

vs a-n-other support system - that depends on what if anything you have already and how integarted it is to your business

vs no automated deployments - absolutely.

 

>Because the cost, although I can afford it if It's really necessary,

>is a pretty big kick in the wallet for me.

 

If $170 for an application to save you time, effort and improve your customer service is a financial drain then you're not ready for business yet There are many thousands of hosts, you're looking at very crowded market with little differentiation between most - gettng yourself to stand out is going to cost you serious money. The expense of WHMCS is a tiny %age of that.

 

>4. It's great to see the awsome community here, and I'm highly considering it.

 

Its one of the best supported billing platforms I've seen - both by the community and the company - everyone is very dedicated to the cause

 

>5. Which of the available domain registrars with WHMCS offer the cheapest domains?

 

Cheap != Good - you only need to research regFly to see that.

Pick your registrar based on the services they offer, the support level you require and the extensions you can register, not on the per domain cost - you'll save in the long run.

[trine]

Why should someone have to convince you anyway?

 

Not trying to be facetious, but if you aren't passionate about becoming a host -- let alone troubleshooting, supporting and hand-holding -- then why even consider becoming a host?

 

As far as WHMCS being "a pretty big kick in the wallet for (you)" -- if you were to actually do some research on what's out there in the marketplace as far as billing programs, you'd quickly see that WHMCS is one of the cheaper solutions out there. The least expensive being WhoisCart (which I hear is changing their license fee structure soon).

 

Here are a few of my thoughts anyway:

 

- good community

- developer seems responsive and is actively developing the product

- good price range, and license pricing options

- whmcs supports all basic hosting-related provisioning and account management needs

- whmcs is quite intuitive

 

That said, I would suggest that you try trial and see if it fits your needs. There are plenty of friendly people around these boards, and from what I have seem, the developer, Matt is highly responsive and backs the product up with great support!

 

Good luck Ignite, and welcome to the forums.

[uberhost]

1. Hello, My name's Nick and I'm from down under, New Zealand

Rick from Southern California, US. Hiya.

 

2. I'm using the free trial of WHMCS right now, and can I just say, that it appears it's all my dreams come true. (Well, not all, but let's not go there.....)

Yes, WHMCS is to webhost billing/support software as Photoshop is to image editing software. This is the best, and the fans are fanatics for obvious reasons.

 

3. I'm brand new to the web hosting business, I'm very experienced with webhosting etc, and I know my way around, but this is the first time I've run one. Will WHMCS be worth it, for a brand newbie like myself? If so, can you convince me why? Because the cost, although I can afford it if It's really necessary, is a pretty big kick in the wallet for me.

Well, your choices are: 1) No billing/support script; 2) Freeware solution; 3) Payware solution. If you choose option 1, you'll start your business off on the wrong foot and quickly feel overwhelmed. If you go with freeware, you'll find out in short order that you're lacking the features and polish you can only get in a payware script. As for a payware solution, WHMCS is easily the best and costs no more than the competition. As for the cost, just lease it and that way have ongoing support.

 

4. It's great to see the awsome community here, and I'm highly considering it.

Yes, the community makes a big difference.

 

5. Which of the available domain registrars with WHMCS offer the cheapest domains?

You could consider going with DirectI for $7.95 per TLD. The setup is free with no minimum deposit, and it all integrates fully with WHMCS.

 

Good luck!