Knowledge and skills need to become a reseller

What is a reseller?

A reseller is a term used to describe a person or an account owner or a company who buys the host’s services wholesale and uses the account’s allotted hard drive space and bandwidth to host other websites on behalf of third parties. A reseller is also defined as a person who has purchased a reseller plan from one of the web hosting providers and then sells them to other users, for the purpose of profiting from the sale. In some other cases, a reseller rents a dedicated server from a hosting provider and resells the shared rented hosting services.
Whichever the case may be, whether the account owner has bought or has rented the server, he resells part of the allocated space and bandwidth to a third party for a profit.

What knowledge and skills do I need to become a reseller?

To become a reseller, you need to have the following knowledge and basic skills:

• You should have the ability to make a simple feasibility study on the market and draft your own business plans and goals. This should include:
  o how much capital you need;
  o the specific market you need to cater;
  o the type of hardware you need to run your company;
  o The costs involved in actually running and managing your company.
• You should possess the following skills required to run a web hosting business:
  o A technical know-how and understanding of:
   Your equipment, infrastructure and computer hardware;
   Your software and applications;
   How the internet works and operates;
   How to maintain and manage accounts with the service provider.
  o In-depth knowledge of internet protocols, concepts and standards
  o Technical and troubleshooting skills required to attend to the needs of your clients
  o Control Panel functions and operation
• You should have a basic working knowledge of how to run a business like:
  o Record keeping
   Sales
   Expenses
   Accounts Payable
   Accounts Receivable
  o Management
  o Billing using e-commerce solutions

Do I really need to be skilled and knowledgeable to become a reseller?

It really depends upon which hosting company you bought your services to determine whether you need to be skilled and knowledgeable to be a reseller. Although some hosting provider companies offer technical support to the reseller’s clients, which mean that you don’t need to do the technical stuff yourself, some hosts require you to personally support your clients, which in this case mean that you have to have some working knowledge, skills and technical know-how to run your business.

What other attributes do I need to possess to be a hosting reseller?

Aside from the basic technical skills and a working business knowledge that you should possess in a reseller hosting business, there are also other attributes or personal character that you need to have. Some of these are the following:

• You need to be friendly and open to everyone. Clients not only patronize a business because of an excellent service but also because they feel that they belong to the company.
• You need to develop and possess communication skills. There is no substitute for good customer relation and open, effective communication.
• You need patience and understanding to be able to affectively help, guide and support the needs of your clients. Solving and providing for their needs is a requirement but it is important that they feel that you are always there ready to listen and lend a helping hand whenever they needed it.
• Hosting business is a 24×7 affair and you need to be on call and ready anytime, willing to lose sleep and precious time, even during Sundays and holidays, in supporting and providing for your client’s needs.