What would you do, I'm having a tough time deciding.

[Strummer21]

I want to get some other forum owners opinions.  I am going to start a forum on a very small niche type of business (maybe around 300+ total audience) and wanted to see if you think it is worth it to buy a domain name and hosting (Let's say $50/year) or go with a free hosting site?  I own this type of business and know there is a need for a forum, but my goal is to make this community available as a resource for everyone to share ideas and advice.  If I spend the money to have it hosted etc., I would want to at least cover my costs with ads, but even that seems like it would be a stretch.  The potential for growth is realistically very small and I envision maybe a small group (25-50) that will be doing all the posts.  I know $50 is not a lot of money, but it's more the principle that I don't want to look back and say why did I just waste my money on this.  It's more like a public service that any of the other owners of this type of business could do, but I am the one actually taking the leap.  What would you do?  Thanks for your opinions. 

[wendallb]

Just my little opinion here but I have never had good luck with any of the free hosting sites as they have less features to do what you need to do.

Also if you have your own space you can most of the time have addon domains if you want to expand.

I have 5 domains on my web space and have all the features I need and the cost is not all that bad. 

Sell a little advertising to cover your cost.

Just one persons opinion.

Good Luck,