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Business idea that grew from my childhood ; How I Made It with Chris Danks, founder of Liverpool-based Cyber Host Pro [Liverpool Echo (England)](Liverpool Echo (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) 'VE ALWAYS had a passion for all things technical ever since I was a young boy. IWhen I was 13 I built my own computer with a 56k modem in order to use dial-up internet. Unlike today, not many people used the internet at home - usually they would have to go to the local library to do so. I was never taught anything about computers during my time at school so I had to learn everything myself. I researched how to get my own .co.uk that I then bought with my pocket money. After understanding the concept of domain names, I came across a company that sold hosting and I signed up with them. At the time I had no idea what it was or how it worked. I recall breaking my account a few times and having to have the company who I hosted with fix it. This is exactly how I have learned pretty much what I know now. I used to find things to purposely break then manually put them back together piece by piece to see what each component did. By the age of 15 I knew the ins and outs to my own hosting account and decided to become a Reseller of that same host. I then setup my own website called Cyber Host Pro to sell hosting to a variety of clients. When I left school I started working in the O2 call centre in Runcorn for two years, alongside my hosting business. It was during this time that I obtained 50 customers through various websites. Months later I bought my own server in order to become top of my game. After leaving O2 I went on to work for TalkTalk, formerly known as Opal Telecom. At 22, I left Opal to run the business full-time from home.a I moved out my family home in Runcorn to live in Liverpool. I then set up my first office space in Speke, before eventually moving into the city centre. After 13 years of being in business, Cyber Host Pro is still based in the Cotton Exchange in Old Hall Street and has more than 2,500 customers. I am so happy with the company that I have created with the help of my team. The most enjoyable factor of my job is the pride I get in knowing that I started the business as a hobby. I have watched it grow and become one of the UK's leading hosting service providers and that is something that I had always dreamed of. (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |