Once the ball is rolling with new clients it's hard to change policies or business plans! I'm starting a niche design/hosting company and want to get things right from the beginning...

I totally appreciate any advice

Insurance
I've been reading a lot about indemnity insurance for design and hosting. Is this considered important in US/Canada? It makes another selling point too (http://www.uk-webdeveloper.co.uk/pro...-insurance.php)

Domain registration - who owns it?
we want to register domains for clients, but if we go bankrupt the domains could all be lost (then we'd really need that insurance!). I've never registered a domain in someone else's name before -- would I have the legal authority to do that? Would I have to create a new account (for example at Godaddy) for each client? What's the professional way?

Hosting all on one dedicated server account
We don't plan on giving clients access to their files (unless they want to change hosts). Is there anything wrong with hosting each client domain as a cpanel "addon" domain on the same account?

Client email
Cpanel has open source webmail clients, but that seems a little messy. Should we give clients access to that? I would prefer to set up a nice Gmail account for the client and forward all their mail to it (or maybe synch with POP?). Then we're not so much on the hook for email support... maybe.

Selling the business
The business should be built so it can be sold, or can run on its own if I croak. What attractive things would another web company look for in my business? What things would be a turn-off for them?

Originally Posted by pionbrain

Domain registration - who owns it?
we want to register domains for clients, but if we go bankrupt the domains could all be lost (then we'd really need that insurance!). I've never registered a domain in someone else's name before -- would I have the legal authority to do that? Would I have to create a new account (for example at Godaddy) for each client? What's the professional way?

No-one actually "owns" domains, in reality they're effectively rented (ie registered) for a certain length of time. If the domain lapses the original registrant loses it and probably won't get it back unless it's a known brand/copyrighted name.

Two general ways to approach this:

1. Get a reseller account with a domain provider - you register domains for your clients and charge them for renewals

2. Client manages their own domain and renewals with whatever registry they choose - this takes all the responsibility away from you, though you could recommend which registrar to use.

Originally Posted by pionbrain

Hosting all on one dedicated server account
We don't plan on giving clients access to their files (unless they want to change hosts). Is there anything wrong with hosting each client domain as a cpanel "addon" domain on the same account?

I wouldn't recommend adding sites like that, instead create proper individual accounts for each customer/site.

Originally Posted by pionbrain

Client email
Cpanel has open source webmail clients, but that seems a little messy. Should we give clients access to that? I would prefer to set up a nice Gmail account for the client and forward all their mail to it (or maybe synch with POP?). Then we're not so much on the hook for email support... maybe.

The three email clients are included with Cpanel but you don't have to use them. Best advice is to ask your customer what would suit them, then provide a solution to suit.

thanks blue-dreamer,

so would we register domains in our company name, then form a contract with the client to explain we can only act on their behalf?

I'm just wondering how it's commonly handled.

Concentrate in your business, I have lot of clients in USA and UK, they never have such an issue.

Originally Posted by pionbrain

thanks blue-dreamer,

so would we register domains in our company name, then form a contract with the client to explain we can only act on their behalf?

I'm just wondering how it's commonly handled.

Registering it in your name is fine. Most clients are clueless when it comes to domain registration, hosting and DNS etc.

If the client decides to go elsewhere after X amount of time then all you need to do is unlock the domain, transfer it to a new account and edit all the ownership information.

Originally Posted by pionbrain

so would we register domains in our company name, then form a contract with the client to explain we can only act on their behalf?

Each domain has three contact names/addresses

Registered owner - should be your client details
Admin and Technical contacts can be your client or yourself

Originally Posted by blue-dreamer

Each domain has three contact names/addresses
Registered owner - should be your client details
Admin and Technical contacts can be your client or yourself

Thanks that makes sense. This summarizes the "ownership" issue I'm talking about
http://www.ace-lynchburg.com/business/domainnames.htm

Hosting all on one dedicated server account
We don't plan on giving clients access to their files (unless they want to change hosts). Is there anything wrong with hosting each client domain as a cpanel "addon" domain on the same account?

Do you mean all of your clients on 1 account or if a client has more than one website? If a client has more than 1 website there is nothing wrong with using add-on domains. But each customer should have a separate account/cPanel access even if they will not access it personally.

Client email
Cpanel has open source webmail clients, but that seems a little messy. Should we give clients access to that? I would prefer to set up a nice Gmail account for the client and forward all their mail to it (or maybe synch with POP?). Then we're not so much on the hook for email support... maybe.

I personally think the webmail clients are quite good but if you're clients are not tech savvy it may be best to do something else. I certainly like the idea of setting up the customers email (info@customercompany.com) for them and redirecting it to their personal G Mail account. There is 2 problems with this:

1) When you client replies to an email it won't look professional using a G Mail account. But it depends on you're customers whether this will be a problem or not.

2) We had a customer who redirected all of his emails to his MSN account. The problem was his MSN email also received all of the spam. MSN blacklisted his IP address because of the spam. When this happens you have to contact MSN to get them to remove the IP from the blacklist.

Personally I think it's better to provide support for the webmail clients rather than have problems with IP's being black listed etc. You can purchase tutorial videos from demowolf.com. Giving your clients access to these videos will reduce support requests.

Some things to be aware of when registering hostnames for clients in your name.

You are the LEGAL owner:
The client has no claim on the hostname should your business go bust.
YOU could/would be held responsible for anything illegal that the client did (warez, trademark infringement etc).

YOU could/would be held responsible for anything illegal that the client did (warez, trademark infringement etc).

Thanks chrishirst that's another great point.

I'm thinking a clear "domain management agreement" with my clients is the best way to go, basically stipulating that:

1. We will register and renew your domain
2. We are not responsible for your use of the domain
3. Registrations are in no way "property" of us and we will transfer registration to you on your request

Having clients register their own domains or listing them as admin contact is too much hassle for them.