I was with Hostgator for years but won't recommend them now because of an acute deterioration in service. This is ever since they were bought by EIG. Although Hostnine is another EIG company, their service has actually improved over time. For most intents and purposes, a reseller account would be enough for your clients.

You only need more specialized hosting such as VPS or a dedicated server when you have sites that take up a lot of resources e.g. large forums, sites with very high traffic, complicated scripts etc. That is when your webhoster may threaten to terminate your shared hosting or reseller account.

I would start with a reseller account and scale things up as required. There is actually a lot of knowledge and hassle involved in managing a VPS or dedicated server. I have had up to 3 dedicated servers before and it is often difficult to justify the cost and time involved.

That is the strategy behind a reseller account. You can start with a low-cost account, $24.95 per month and charge your clients whatever you want for hosting. You keep ALL of the income from hosting fees minus the $24.95 per month.

This plan lets you start your design and hosting business without buying equipment. Should you find, in a few months, that type of business is not for you, you are only out $24.95 per month.

Let's say you charge your clients $25.00 per month for hosting;

10 hosting clients @ $25.00 = $250 per month.

$250 minus $24.95 you pay for a reseller account = $225.05 per month profit.

Joe Mobley