blackpuppy started this topic @ 10:19 on 13/07/2006
Hi There!
For a while now I have been building sites for friends and colleagues, and passing a HUGE amount of hosting business on, so decided to look into becoming a Host myself. So, this has very quickly led to the formation of my new company, Black Puppy!
Please visit the site at www.blackpuppy.co.uk
As this is a new venture, I am keen to gain feedback and any stories of personal experience in this area to make it a success. Oh, yeah, and maybe sign up a few plans! I have done alot of market research and believe the plans I have are comprehensive and competitive.
The main idea behing the site is to present as Plain English, as so many people out there may want websites but much of the hosting is presented in a way that assumes some knowledge base.
The site itself is not quite finished - the text will be reformatted using a mix of flash and php scripting, and the main order form should be uploaded shortly, as soon as I have finalised its content.
So please take a look, remember me and if you need hosting, then send me a message!!
Look forward to hearing more soon!
Thanks guys and gals!
Andy
Black Puppy Hosting
RE: New Web Hosting Company
ecom-solution.co.uk | 15/07/2006 01:22 AM
Not bad prices at all , and good luck - only thing i will suggest is make lots more support pages will save your months of answering emails otherwise.
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RE: RE: New Web Hosting Company
blackpuppy | 15/07/2006 07:59 AM
Thanks for the reply! I am gradually working on the support pages and developing a more friendly interface - as well as more post-sales info as right now it is all presale. Thanks for the feedback though, much appreciated!
RE: RE: New Web Hosting Company
bizrun | 15/07/2006 09:16 AM
Hi, Blackpuppy,
Visited your site, my suggestion is to go over the site with a fine toothcomb to weed out all typos. I was reading from the 1st line on home page when i came across "webiste"
Typos, might not give a very good impression to customers.
Thanks
RE: New Web Hosting Company
clickedon | 15/07/2006 02:19 PM
Hi Andy,
Just a couple suggestions further to the above posts. Is flash really necessary for your site? I can't see anything which can't be done in well-coded (X)HTML, and it may have negative SE and accessibility implications (I've not looked at what steps you have made to ensure the site is accessible to those with assistive technologies, but you have a legal obligation to take reasonable steps to ensure services are accessible). Also, many people looking for a web host may prefer to copy and paste details of many hosts so they can compare more easily - they can't do that with Flash.
A couple of other things - £100 per year for unlimited space and bandwidth is rather cheap! If a busy community site, a video provider or any other bandwidth/resource-hogging site signs up, you may be liable for some hefty upstream bills. Everything has it's price and there's no such thing as unlimited - many people immediatly shy away from hosts offering anything 'unlimited', as it implies either a less-than-honest approach, a lack of foresight or a restrictive AUP which will suspend your site the moment it's gets busy.
Finally, a lack of contact information (address, telephone number) is a big turn-off. I personally wouldn't rely on a host with which the only way to contact is an email form, and you should also check out the Distance Selling Regulations which stipulate that you must provide an address if you are distance selling.
On the positive side, it's great that you are encouraging 'Plain English' - it's something that perhaps all of us should aspire to in our literature.
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Dave - clickedon.co.uk
RE: New Web Hosting Company
blackpuppy | 15/07/2006 06:53 PM
This stuff is great guys - I am well aware of the typos as I kinda threw the text in to help me visualise the layout. I have started recoding the text as external files loaded into the flash movie, which helps with the editability and also allows for copy and pasting.
I am intending on releasing the site as a HTML version too, but as flash takes longer I have done this first.
With regards to upstream bills - have I missed something there?! I am acting as a reseller and my costs are fixed with them - please advise if I am missing something completely obvious!
Address and phone number will be added once I have moved house in a couple of weeks, which should also coincide with a final launch!
Really appreciating the feedback -keep looking in as I am working on it all the time!
Thanks!
RE: RE: New Web Hosting Company
clickedon | 15/07/2006 10:54 PM
Originally posted by: blackpuppy
With regards to upstream bills - have I missed something there?! I am acting as a reseller and my costs are fixed with them - please advise if I am missing something completely obvious!
Basically, there's no such thing as unlimited. Unless you have perfected an organic hard disk drive which grows in size when approaching capacity, it's impossible to provide unlimited space. Likewise, it's impossible to offer unlimited bandwidth - you either have to throttle bandwidth or implement monthly limits.
There are many fly-by-night hosting companies which offer 'unlimited' space and bandwidth and their users are stung once the server (or package) reaches capacity. Usually the users fall foul of an ambiguous AUP clause such as unquantified misuse or monopolisation of resources.
Of course, I'm not suggesting you are in the same group as these bedroom hosts. However, despite many users being attracted by 'unlimited', there is a sizable group who will automatically discount hosts who even mention 'unlimited'.
Sales is about building trust with a potential client. Many of your potential clients will believe the old "if it's too good to be true, it usually is" maxim, and if you are offering something for a tenner a month when market leaders such as Zen Web Hosting and Webfusion charge double for less, there will be major question marks.
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Dave - clickedon.co.uk
RE: New Web Hosting Company
ecom-solution.co.uk | 15/07/2006 07:14 PM
Your costs are fine Blackpuppy we offer simular our rackspace isnt limited and on 100/100 lines so its very unlikley that anyone would have a site that big to kill it, if your reseling have a look in the hosts small print they may have a "if your site uses to much bandwith etc" then we will refund you or offer an upgrade. if that is the case make sure yours terms state the same.
Have a look on the startups offers for 0845 numbers when you move house they can be redirected to a new number + if you working from home do you really want everyone acces to your personal number.think i got my 0845 for £10 a year costs me nothing and saves clients money as all calls are charged as local rate. if your reselling feel free to email me and i will see if i can give you a better deal than your current host.
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RE: New Web Hosting Company
blackpuppy | 15/07/2006 07:30 PM
Just another thing that I may as well throw out to the crowd .. taxation!
The government site was not too clear - I was more concerned about VAT - but I am not eligible to be VAT registered until I am over a certain amount.
I am full time employed beyond Black Puppy, and so am not sure about how to declare monies earnt from the site?! Any useful contacts or sites out there that could help explain?
RE: RE: New Web Hosting Company
Ola Andersson | 19/10/2007 10:23 AM
hi there, prices are competitive on your site i must say. £10.00 for unlimited databases is good.
Regarding your tax situation as employed AND self employed at the same time. If I remember correctly you will need to register as self employed even if you hold a position as employed elsewhere.
You will find all you need to know here: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/selfemployed/
Good Luck,
Regards
Ola
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Ola Andersson
Olango Web Media - focus e-Commerce Web Sites
RE: New Web Hosting Company
ecom-solution.co.uk | 15/07/2006 07:43 PM
Find a good accountant
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http://www.ecom-hosting-solution.com <<< Ecommerce Hosting from £30 YEAR http://www.tele-pro.co.uk <<< Seo Security and custom programing http://www.safe-email.eu <<< Stops 100% of spam email http://google-search-optimisation.com <<< Free directory listing
RE: New Web Hosting Company
blackpuppy | 16/07/2006 09:01 AM
Yeah, thats cool Clickedon ... I am definately going to go back and look at my Unlimited plan ... when I was devising plans I think I was getting more swayed by what is advertised by other hosts, rather than going with a gut feeling.
I have worked in Marketing and Merchandising before, and anything that was advertised in bright letters and offered something that seemed too good to be true just reeked of implausibilty!
Think it is time to reasses and use what I know works and not what the market dictates .. certainly for the initial period in which the Puppy is up and running.
Had a look at your site too - very impressive!
Thanks again!