How hard to start a small hosting company

[twintone]

This totally depends on what he is looking to do.

If he is just looking to get a machine from a host, and resell hosting on it, then it wouldn't cost very much, but he wouldn't have full control of things.

If he is actually looking to purchase a rack, switch, machines, and everything else you need to start a legitimate host, then its going to cost him a good amount of money.

My guess is, he is just going to lease a machine from some cheap host, and host sites on it like 500 other little (so called hosting companies) do.

I would suggest he at least think about buying his own machine, and having it co-located somewhere close to his home, so he can at least go do things himself if ever needed. Otherwise you are depending on some 3rd party support. If they suck, then your support is going to suck. Nothing worse then having a machine down, and depending on some other party to get it back up for you. Talk about feeling helpless.

Just a few things to think about.