Career change.... Worthwhile?

[Dvdj]

I’m in the middle of a mid-life crisis and wanting a change in career.

I have experience in land surveying, photography and 3D software and want to get my permission to fly commercially.

I want to know if this is an economically viable option. I see many web sites stating that there are tonnes of opportunities for drone pilots however not many opportunities are showing on job sites.

What are your thoughts or experiences?

 

[dirkclod]

Welcome to the forum Dvdj and I can't speak on getting the 107. Here it would not pay. Now @BigAl07
does well I know and is on and off at the moment but he would be the one I asked for advise about it .
Good luck .

 

[UAVNV]

best to get familiar with networking in that industry, attend conferences related to that field and reach out to prospective employers with your presentation if you are starting from scratch.

have you created a survey from images and mapped them? put together that portfolio and create an online presence to gather information you can present as your experience.

really takes a good amount of time dedicated to self promotion, building relationships locally, else you will be relegated to searching out ads online, from my experience never has a lot of opportunity for steady work.

good luck! If you dont change anything....nothing changes [emoji817]

 

[BrooklynFlyer]

Inot many opportunities are showing on job sites.

I think you answered your own question.

 

[Classic flyer]

I’m in the middle of a mid-life crisis and wanting a change in career.

I have experience in land surveying, photography and 3D software and want to get my permission to fly commercially.

I want to know if this is an economically viable option. I see many web sites stating that there are tonnes of opportunities for drone pilots however not many opportunities are showing on job sites.

What are your thoughts or experiences?

I suggest that you go to UAV NEWS.COM and checkout the different certifications they offer( thermal imagery, aerial surveying, etc) maybe that will help with you decide what to do...be safe, fly smart

 

[53-63-6f-74-74]

Check your state laws regarding the term "surveying". Providing a client anything other than aerial photographs (3d models, point clouds, contour maps, geo-referenced orthophotos, stockpile volumes, etc.) is in many cases defined as Land Surveying, and providing any of these services without being a licensed Land Surveyor in your state may be in violation of law, whether or not it is actually enforced. I would not recommend starting a business that provides any of those things, if that is your thought.

You didn't mention what you do now, but if you are interested in this then you should start looking for Land Surveying companies that may be hiring technicians. I don't know where you live, but a UAV is just an additional tool for surveyors here and its uses are limited. It would be impossible here to make a living solely as a UAV pilot, in any capacity. That being said, start the process and get the 107 certification. It's quite easy and you'll need to start there first.

 

[Classic flyer]

Check your state laws regarding the term "surveying". Providing a client anything other than aerial photographs (3d models, point clouds, contour maps, geo-referenced orthophotos, stockpile volumes, etc.) is in many cases defined as Land Surveying, and providing any of these services without being a licensed Land Surveyor in your state may be in violation of law, whether or not it is actually enforced. I would not recommend starting a business that provides any of those things, if that is your thought.

You didn't mention what you do now, but if you are interested in this then you should start looking for Land Surveying companies that may be hiring technicians. I don't know where you live, but a UAV is just an additional tool for surveyors here and its uses are limited. It would be impossible here to make a living solely as a UAV pilot, in any capacity. That being said, start the process and get the 107 certification. It's quite easy and you'll need to start there first.

I was suggesting that he might get the cert and be eligible to work for a registered surveying company...be safe, fly smart

 

[Dvdj]

Thank you all very much for your sage advice.

I think you are correct in that I need to keep practicing my flying and keep promoting myself and services and build it up gradually.

Cheers

 

[BigAl07]

Good evening. Sorry for the delay in my response as life issues have kept me away recently.

The best way I can answer this would be to say... No way would I quit my day job and take this leap of faith. Way too many variables in our industry in general. You'll want to learn and understand those variables long before investing in the equipment let alone changing careers.

I see many web sites stating that there are tonnes of opportunities for drone pilots however not many opportunities are showing on job sites.

We've all seen "those" websites and more often than not they are JUNK and pure marketing. The areas with the most jobs are usually also the areas with the most pilots which makes sense but is not good for a start-up enterprise. You've got to be able to offer something more or better than your competition of you won't be able to compete.

If I were contemplating doing something like this I would take the time, money, and effort to develop a strong and detailed Business Plan. I'm not talking about the 1 or 2 page templates you get off the internet but a full blown professional Business Plan. Ours turned out to be roughly 60 pages when it was completed. After you have developed the BP you'll know what your local market is, who your competition is, what your marketing campaign is, what your Cost Of doing Business is, and best of all a good starting point for your pricing structure.

Keep in mind that the number of commercial operators (notice I did not say Part 107 because non Part 107 operators are also commercial operators and your competition too) has sky rocketed. Back in 2014/2015 we were getting PREMIUM prices because no one was able to do "legally" what we could. We did work for Disney, The Travel Channel and a couple of "we can't name them" companies. They called, asked our prices (which we quoted insanely high) and then they said, " How many days are you available for." Today we are working for 10% of what we made back then simply because so many people are doing the same type of work now. We are still making good $$ and having a great time but it's not a market I would blindly jump into.

Good luck and SAFE flights.
Allen

 

[ac0j]

i live in a relatively small town. I gave this a great amount of thought. I concluded I could make Hundreds a week at BEST. Not really worth it for me. I have skills that are far more valuable to work with.
Reading what BigAl07 posted only cemented my decision to keep it a hobby.

 

[macoman]

i live in a relatively small town. I gave this a great amount of thought. I concluded I could make Hundreds a week at BEST. Not really worth it for me. I have skills that are far more valuable to work with.
Reading what BigAl07 posted only cemented my decision to keep it a hobby.

Agreed with you and BigAI07 as well. Too much headache and effort for basically nothing if you are starting from scratch. I rather do it as a hobby and enjoy it.

 

[matth1000]

Agreed with you and BigAI07 as well. Too much headache and effort for basically nothing if you are starting from scratch. I rather do it as a hobby and enjoy it.

Totally agree. I do it for a job and haven't really enjoyed flying multicopters or planes as much as I used to.
The amount of paperwork involved to please insurance company and CASA is way over the top and really takes the fun out it.
Keep it as hobby is my advice as well.

 

[mikemoose55]

My first recommendation is don't quit your day job!!!!!!!
You will NEVER replace your income overnight even if you can repalce it eventually.
In between you will be scratching and digging to survive.
Here is a better plan...
there are 24 hours a day and you get to use them all.
Use your day job to support your life and fund your passion.
Work on developing your drone business every minute you are not on your day job.
When you are so busy on your drone job that you can't keep up then and only then you can think about quitting you day job.
I have been self employed for 17 years it is a long hard 12 -14 hour day EVERYDAY to ramp up your business and then protect it after you have built it. It is never the dream everyone tells you about.
The work is hard , long and if you get hurt, sick or just tired you don't get a day or two off.
Lastly there are VERY FEW folks here killing the drone market . BigA107 is one successful member out of THOUSANDS here why do you think that is?. Given that you have to ask yourself this because you will be playing with a loaded gun to your future so to speak...

mikemoose55

 

[Classic flyer]

My first recommendation is don't quit your day job!!!!!!!
You will NEVER replace your income overnight even if you can repalce it eventually.
In between you will be scratching and digging to survive.
Here is a better plan...
there are 24 hours a day and you get to use them all.
Use your day job to support your life and fund your passion.
Work on developing your drone business every minute you are not on your day job.
When you are so busy on your drone job that you can't keep up then and only then you can think about quitting you day job.
I have been self employed for 17 years it is a long hard 12 -14 hour day EVERYDAY to ramp up your business and then protect it after you have built it. It is never the dream everyone tells you about.
The work is hard , long and if you get hurt, sick or just tired you don't get a day or two off.
Lastly there are VERY FEW folks here killing the drone market . BigA107 is one successful member out of THOUSANDS here why do you think that is?. Given that you have to ask yourself this because you will be playing with a loaded gun to your future so to speak...

mikemoose55

Great advice sir...be safe, fly smart!

 

[Vegasdad]

Jump!!!!!!!! life is short chase your dreams. Their are risks in every thing you do like driving to work.

 

[seanmclean]

It was lucrative for a little while, but unless you're exceptionally good (which I'd wager many of us are not), its a lost cause at being a dayjob. Too many of the bread and butter jobs are being filled by sixteen year olds willing to do it for $50-$100.

 

[gnirtS]

It was lucrative for a little while, but unless you're exceptionally good (which I'd wager many of us are not), its a lost cause at being a dayjob. Too many of the bread and butter jobs are being filled by sixteen year olds willing to do it for $50-$100.

Its even worse in the SCUBA diving industry. Companies are now openly offering "Jobs" with no salary and $5 a day "food allowance". And the scary thing is, people take those amazing offers.

 

[BigAl07]

My first recommendation is don't quit your day job!!!!!!!
You will NEVER replace your income overnight even if you can repalce it eventually.
In between you will be scratching and digging to survive.
Here is a better plan...
there are 24 hours a day and you get to use them all.
Use your day job to support your life and fund your passion.
Work on developing your drone business every minute you are not on your day job.
When you are so busy on your drone job that you can't keep up then and only then you can think about quitting you day job.
I have been self employed for 17 years it is a long hard 12 -14 hour day EVERYDAY to ramp up your business and then protect it after you have built it. It is never the dream everyone tells you about.
The work is hard , long and if you get hurt, sick or just tired you don't get a day or two off.

Outstanding advice. I love how you mentioned the long hours and days. A few years back my friends kept saying, "You're ALWAYS working... all day, at night, weekends and even when you go on trips you're always working. Is it really worth it when you figure what you make per hour?" For the first little bit it's a resounding NO! You struggle, hustle, and spend a lot of time thinking "What have I gotten myself into". One day you look back and realize (it's usually around year #3) you've made it and you can now breath a little bit. But it's never ending because there is always someone else out there trying to take your bread & butter so you've got to be quicker and better in every way.

Lastly there are VERY FEW folks here killing the drone market . BigA107 is one successful member out of THOUSANDS here why do you think that is?. Given that you have to ask yourself this because you will be playing with a loaded gun to your future so to speak...

Thank you for your kind words. @mikemoose55. I admit that I've been lucky and blessed in many ways but I also admit it took a LOT of work to build our brand, reputation, and client base. We have to work hard still today to maintain what we have and to hopefully continue to grow our business and product offerings.

Keep in mind I've been "doing this R/C thing" in one way or another since 1974 (as a hobbyist) and we started making $$ with R/C aircraft long before they were "drones". Back in the Good Ole Days we didn't require licensing, testing, and all the other stuff. It was literally the Wild Wild West and we set our own prices and almost always got whatever we quoted.

Also it helps that I have a strong background in business and have created and sold 2 other small businesses before starting this one.

 

[Classic flyer]

Jump!!!!!!!! life is short chase your dreams. Their are risks in every thing you do like driving to work.

Not without a parachute...lol, be safe fly smart!

 

[seowashdc]

I run my own training and consulting business. It took me the better part of two years to really get it going. Slow and steady is the way to go. Someone here made the point about getting trained and certified. I'm looking at the level 1 thermography class. If you can do something to stand out from the competition, that helps in the long run. If you don't get a job in house, you're the boss, owner, accountant, sales person, HR, etc. My life everyday!