This revenue data was provided to ProductStarters.com in Nigerian Naira. US Dollar equivalents were calculated at the average official rate of each year.
Hello! Who are you and what product are you building?
My name is Stephen Jude, and I live in Nigeria. I'm a software developer specialising in Laravel and PHP applications. I'm also an open-source contributor, publishing numerous open-source packages that help developers and their clients worldwide.
Since 2019, I've been running Litehost, my business. At Litehost, we help software developers, especially Laravel developers, deploy applications easily and manage to host them efficiently. This focus on Laravel-friendly hosting sets us apart.
How did you come up with the idea for this product, and what problem were you aiming to solve?
I learned to code in a two-year computer science program, and after graduating, I entered the job market as a software developer in 2017. At the time, shared hosting with cPanel was the primary option for small-scale developers.
However, as a Laravel developer, I found it difficult to host Laravel applications on shared hosting because cPanel wasn’t configured for Laravel by default. This meant developers had to rely on hacks to get their applications running. I realized there was a gap: Laravel developers needed a shared hosting solution that supported their frameworks out of the box.
Additionally, I wanted a side business that I could build for myself. This dual motivation—solving a technical problem and creating a business—led me to launch Litehost.
Give us a step-by-step process on how you built the first version of your product.
What I did with Litehost was more of outsourcing. I outsourced literally everything.
If you're into web hosting, you know that you need a server. When I started, I couldn't afford my own dedicated server.
So what I did was get into a platform that gave me access to their infrastructure so I could resell what they had and then redesign the front end. That’s what I did—cPanel, managing, and building. I think I was able to build out everything in a week and launch it after gathering the info I needed. What took me the most time was figuring out which hosting platform or provider to use and what resources I should focus on configuring to run this efficiently without the cost of building from scratch.
In summary, I outsourced almost every part of the business, especially the software. I only wrote some custom code for particular use cases. For example, the cPanel we provision comes pre-installed with a WordPress project for WordPress developers. This is not something that comes by default from the resources I'm using—these are custom-built features I added as an advantage for my customers.
How did you launch the product?
I'm a very enthusiastic developer. I'm a big fan of what the Laravel community stands for and the kind of software we ship. So I was starting to build a small Laravel community where I was, and we had our first meetup.
I planned that as soon as I launched this, I would talk with more Laravel developers. I was going to carry this forward as I set up meetups. This was going to be how I could sponsor these meetups—if developers could come to my platform and buy from me, I would have enough to keep hosting the Laravel meetups.
That was the plan, the launch plan. But when I launched, the initial launch was just sharing with close friends on WhatsApp, Twitter, and Facebook. I was in a lot of Facebook groups back then, like Facebook Developer Circle. I don't know if it still exists—I’m no longer on Facebook. But I shared most of it in those groups.
Some of my friends also shared it, and that’s how I launched. It was more of a family-and-friends kind of launch, not a big launch.
How did you land your first customers?
It's funny because my first customer is currently working with me at another company. I didn’t know him, but according to him, a friend had told him about me.
So when I put it out there, this guy just went ahead and paid without even talking to me.
I already had Paystack integrated. Paystack had this limited access they gave to people who didn’t have a registered business. So even though the business wasn’t incorporated, it was still easy for me to have a Paystack account and collect money.
That helped a lot. I started this because I could, and Paystack made it super easy without too many requirements.
When I got a notification from Paystack that someone had paid N400, I was surprised. It was January, and that was my first customer.
I started shouting around the room, telling everyone that this guy didn’t even know me, and he just went and purchased my product.
Later, I connected with him. There was an intermediary between us, and it was that person who introduced me to him. He decided to give us a try.
That’s how we got our first customer—I’d call it word of mouth.
How have you grown your business so far?
We've done a lot of things. The first thing we've consistently done is that whenever people join the Laravel WhatsApp community and ask, "Where can I get cheap hosting?" We recommend Litehost. Some of my friends in the group also recommend Litehost. Do you see the thing?
The second way we've grown is by running ads. That’s where my sister came in—she saw me doing all this and said, "Okay, maybe I could do something here." I don’t know how to run ads, but she does. She just went to Facebook. I had already set up our Facebook page and everything else. She connected our account, set up the ads, and we were running. I think we were spending about 1,000 to 1,500 Nigerian Naira, just the basic minimum.
But I can tell you that word of mouth has worked more for us.
Another thing that has worked is my credibility in the Laravel space, right?
I've published open-source packages—some have even been republished on the Laravel News website. I think I have two packages that got attention and were featured on the landing page of Laracasts.
With this credibility, it's easier for people to see what I’m doing.
I've also been blogging for a while. I started blogging in 2018. Because I have a lot of content out there, people can find me just by searching on Google.
I wrote one of the first Paystack articles that got to the front page. If you search "How to integrate Paystack," you'll see it on the third or fourth result—unless Google has pushed it down with ads.
At the end of my article, there’s a call-to-action link that tells readers they can host their Laravel application on Litehost, where they’ll have access to a terminal and can configure everything easily.
I’ve written a lot of other articles, and those articles keep bringing people to my platform. That makes it much easier for them to trust me.
So my open-source contributions, content writing, word of mouth, and ads have all helped in growing Litehost.
Give us a breakdown of your revenue and financials.
2019: We did nothing.
2020: Our first full calendar year, we did over N500,000 (~ $1315.41).
2021: We did N1.047 million (~ $2,594.76)
2022: We did N2.2 million (~ $5,191.74)
2023: We did N5.3 million (~ $8,361.86)
2024: We did N6.3 million (~ $4300.23)
I can give you data around this, right? This isn’t something I’m just saying—I’m literally scanning through the backend records of the application right now.
To give you an idea, we usually sell domain registration services. Our profit per domain ranges from N1,000 to N4,000.
We also do web hosting. We buy hosting per month but charge customers per year. The basic hosting plan is N14,000 per year.
But hosting is not the business—domain registration is the business. Hosting is just the stew that sells the rice—I don’t know if that makes sense.
Let me explain: When someone pays for a domain, it’s for one year. We don’t need to restock or spend on servicing it, so there’s no loss.
But the problem with hosting is different. Right now, we have our own dedicated server. Our cPanel is fully managed by us—we no longer outsource it to a third party.
The issue is that over the last two years, cPanel has significantly increased its prices. Because of this, we had to adjust our pricing. We started charging per year instead of per month to avoid running at a loss.
For hosting, we need to get the money in bulk to cover the cost of running our dedicated servers. I hope that makes sense.
Right now, for 200 cPanel accounts, we’re paying about $100+ directly to cPanel. If I were buying from resellers, it would be even more expensive. That’s why I got a cPanel license myself—to avoid unnecessary markups and pricing fluctuations.
Selling cPanel accounts is difficult. Honestly, cPanel hasn’t been very profitable for us. People don’t want to buy 20 cPanels; they just want one cPanel where they can host 10 to 15 domains.
So what I do is offer a cheaper cPanel option that lets customers add multiple domains. This encourages them to buy more domains from me.
Domains, unlike hosting, are a guaranteed source of profit. Whether domain prices go up or not, I still make a profit when customers register or renew them.
What does the future look like?
I have big plans for Litehost. My goal is to do for cPanel what Taylor Otwell did with Laravel Forge, but not for VPS—specifically for cPanel users. I want to create an experience where developers can deploy their Laravel applications effortlessly, without worrying about tedious configurations.
Last year, I published a lot of articles on cPanel, addressing individual issues like connecting cPanel to GitHub, deploying JavaScript asset-based applications, and setting up auto-deployment. Forge offers these conveniences for VPS users, and I believe cPanel users should have the same seamless experience. If I find the time and resources, I’d love to build this—even if it’s not a highly lucrative venture. The goal is to enhance the developer experience.
Three most important things you have learned that have been helpful to you since launching this product?
Customer Support is Everything. One of the things I initially overlooked was customer support. Support is the lifeline of any business. Even if you're not deeply involved in operations, you need a strong support system. Sometimes, customers don’t just need a fix—they need someone to listen. I remember reading an article by DHH (David Heinemeier Hansson) where he discussed handling customer complaints. You can either treat an issue as minor and risk escalating customer frustration, or you can take it seriously and ensure they feel heard. Customers often mirror your response—if you downplay their issue, they’ll make it a big deal. But if you take it seriously, they may downplay it themselves. Managing this dynamic is crucial.
Bad Actors Exist in Every Industry I didn't initially realize how much of a problem bad actors could be. Hosting services are constantly at risk of being flagged for spam or abuse because of a single malicious user. If someone uses your server for spam, your entire infrastructure can be threatened. The system has processes to mitigate this—providers notify you about suspicious activity, and it’s your responsibility to act quickly.
At first, I was hesitant to shut down accounts, but I learned that protecting the integrity of our service is paramount. We have a strict policy: if an account is confirmed to be engaging in malicious activities, we terminate it immediately. Customers may argue, but in reality, they know when they’re at fault. Over time, I realized that standing firm on this policy is essential.
Data Responsibility is Critical Initially, I didn’t fully grasp how much responsibility comes with hosting data. It wasn’t until I experienced a database crash that I realized I was hosting critical information—school websites, supermarket databases, businesses relying on my platform. When a server goes down, it’s not just an inconvenience—it directly impacts people’s livelihoods.
That experience made me deeply conscious of the importance of uptime and data protection. Even if a business isn’t making massive profits yet, the impact it has on users is significant. Ensuring reliability is a duty that cannot be taken lightly.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to build their product or already started building?
Yeah, I think having a solid support system is more important than having a shaggy product. I think what I'm saying is not to discredit that you can't build a product that is solid, right? But the truth is that something is always going wrong. Sometimes it's not even that your product is bad. Sometimes it's not even that your product is not working. It's just that this customer is using it in a way that you didn't think about. So if a customer is doing this, it's still a problem because you have yet to provide the service. You have yet to provide them value for what they are paying for.
So in essence, you have to think about support. And then I think another thing I want to add is that you have to also be careful because support can be overwhelming. Support is overwhelming. So if you can figure out how you can provide support, even if it's not by yourself, right, even if it's by hiring people, getting people, putting them in places that will allow them to do this work for you very well, it's something you really, really need to think about.
I think this is one of the things. I've published articles. I've published packages, especially open-source PHP packages. And one of the things I realized is that as soon as your package is live there, somebody's application depends on it. So you become responsible for a lot of things. So you can't just play around with it. You have to think about it. It's not just to write or publish something. It's to be able to be there, stand there and maintain it. That's why you see big companies, they don't usually want shiny things, right, because they know that we need people that can be here for the long term, right?
I think that's the way you should think about it for yourself too or for your business. Are you going to be here for the long term? And this will mean that it's going to take time for people to trust you. But as soon as they start trusting you, you need to still maintain it. If not, you are killing other businesses. Another business starts and learns something new, they know that somebody, this kind of thing has happened to me before. I don't trust this guy. I can't trust that these people are going to stay for that long or something like that.
That's why it looks like whenever a big player enters another market, they don't have issues with onboarding new customers. Just because they know that these people have been in this other industry for a long time, they can be here too. When a new player that has not been in any industry at all, has not produced something that has lasted for a long time, they have to check you. So if we are going to reduce the barrier of that checking, it has to be a collective effort of people that are shipping things, that are building things, standing by those things they ship and build, at least to the point where they know that they have done their best.
****Where can we go to learn more?
I'm trying to do this straight out the window. If you want to learn from me, my website would be a good place. I have a lot of resources, ranging from PHP resources to Laravel resources to filament packages and other things. I'm on Twitter. Not always there, right? But I know I will maintain that handle for the long term. And then I'm on LinkedIn.