Certifications and certificates

[timskins]

Looking to move from fun to business. Some mapping, and inspections, whatever else I can find along those lines.
I am wondering what types fo classes or certifications are worthwhile and not gimmicks to make a quick buck. I have been looking at colleges, SDI, Pilot institue etc. Are there any that stand out in the industry?

 

[GadgetGuy]

Looking to move from fun to business. Some mapping, and inspections, whatever else I can find along those lines.
I am wondering what types fo classes or certifications are worthwhile and not gimmicks to make a quick buck. I have been looking at colleges, SDI, Pilot institue etc. Are there any that stand out in the industry?

Classes and certifications are of little value to clients, other than as proof of training. What they are really interested in is a portfolio of work and references from existing happy clients.

I would first very carefully research your local market for the existing competition for those types of jobs, and see if there is currently any unmet demand. Otherwise, you will just be trying to cannibalize their jobs where the only thing you can offer is inexperience at a much lower price, which usually won't be profitable.

Perhaps you can get on the job training with one of the local pilots currently doing such jobs, as an assistant or co-pilot. If they are good at marketing, they may be able to double book time slots for another pilot to shoot the job for them, much like a wedding photographer, who can book multiple weddings on the same Saturdays by simply contracting out the shooting to a gun for hire, who only wants to shoot, but not deal with all the hassles of running a wedding photography business.

If you have a very clear business plan, run it by an SBA loan officer and see if they will finance your venture. They'll be quick to debunk your optimism with reality.

In any event, converting fun into business means doing only what others are willing to pay you for, which usually won't be fun anymore.

Successful drone businesses are 90% sales and marketing to find clients willing to hire you, with less than 10% of your business time devoted to flying. Editing and creating deliverables and collecting payment are also part of the business. Some clients just won’t pay. Now you are in the debt collection business, too.

Good luck, but it certainly isn’t all rainbows and unicorns!

 

[motocatfish]

Looking to move from fun to business. Some mapping, and inspections, whatever else I can find along those lines.
I am wondering what types fo classes or certifications are worthwhile and not gimmicks to make a quick buck. I have been looking at colleges, SDI, Pilot institue etc. Are there any that stand out in the industry?

For commercial work, you will need the FAA Part 107 remote pilot certification. You should have part 107 to get drone liability insurance. Mine is not renewing policies withOUT 107 cert #.

There is a large amount of FAA regs & info you must know to pass the part 107 cert test.

I took the Pilot Institute's Part 107 Online Course. I liked its self-pace approach & section testing/review as you progress. At 70yo I passed the FAA cert test with 97%. Yes, I recommend the Pilot Institute course.

Good luck!

Catfish ...

 

[skycam509]

Once you have your Part 107 cert, you could sign on with Zeitview. Clients hire them for various types of drone jobs all over the country and they pass those mission offers on to pilots who are signed up with them in the area the job is in. You can set a radius of how far you are willing to travel. You can pick and choose which jobs you want.

Zeitview offers free online training courses to build you skillset and make you eligible for more types of missions. They offer missions for various types of drones, too. You register which drone(s) you have with them and they offer missions accordingly. They won't offer you a thermal imaging mission if you don't have a thermal capable drone. Many of the jobs involve using an automated flight app (I use DroneLink, which I paid for) to capture a series of photos they can use to create a 3-D model for their clients.

There are other types of jobs, too. I have driven to locations just to snap one "birdseye" photo of a building's roof on multiple occasions. These Zeitview jobs don't pay much, but it's a great way to get some experience and learn how to deal with different types of missions and issues that can arise. Sometimes the job offers just aren't worth it for the pay offered, due to the travel distance. Sometimes in this instance, I've been able to take multiple missions in the same area to make it more worth the travel time and gas.

Many times you will need to use LAANC to get airspace authorization to fly in certain areas. On a few occasions, I have needed to request a waiver from the FAA. This is good experience for you as well, so that when you start your own business, you can take on jobs that others might shy away from due to the added complexity.

Zeitview doesn't have a great reputation due to their low pay, but as I mentioned, it's a way to get some experience and training and make a couple bucks in the process. Look at it as a paid internship. Despite comments I've read about them, I've found their pilot support to be very good. If you have a problem or question, you can email them and they will get right back to you.

For the record, I'm not a Zeitview employee trying to promote their program or anything like that. I'm just sharing what has worked for me as a way to get some experience, training and confidence. I still use Zeitview but also do jobs for FlyGuys, Dronegenuity and some direct clients, all of which pay better than Zeitview.

Come back and give us some updates on how your journey into the commercial drone industry is going. Good luck!

 

[timskins]

Once you have your Part 107 cert, you could sign on with Zeitview. Clients hire them for various types of drone jobs all over the country and they pass those mission offers on to pilots who are signed up with them in the area the job is in. You can set a radius of how far you are willing to travel. You can pick and choose which jobs you want.

Zeitview offers free online training courses to build you skillset and make you eligible for more types of missions. They offer missions for various types of drones, too. You register which drone(s) you have with them and they offer missions accordingly. They won't offer you a thermal imaging mission if you don't have a thermal capable drone. Many of the jobs involve using an automated flight app (I use DroneLink, which I paid for) to capture a series of photos they can use to create a 3-D model for their clients.

There are other types of jobs, too. I have driven to locations just to snap one "birdseye" photo of a building's roof on multiple occasions. These Zeitview jobs don't pay much, but it's a great way to get some experience and learn how to deal with different types of missions and issues that can arise. Sometimes the job offers just aren't worth it for the pay offered, due to the travel distance. Sometimes in this instance, I've been able to take multiple missions in the same area to make it more worth the travel time and gas.

Many times you will need to use LAANC to get airspace authorization to fly in certain areas. On a few occasions, I have needed to request a waiver from the FAA. This is good experience for you as well, so that when you start your own business, you can take on jobs that others might shy away from due to the added complexity.

Zeitview doesn't have a great reputation due to their low pay, but as I mentioned, it's a way to get some experience and training and make a couple bucks in the process. Look at it as a paid internship. Despite comments I've read about them, I've found their pilot support to be very good. If you have a problem or question, you can email them and they will get right back to you.

For the record, I'm not a Zeitview employee trying to promote their program or anything like that. I'm just sharing what has worked for me as a way to get some experience, training and confidence. I still use Zeitview but also do jobs for FlyGuys, Dronegenuity and some direct clients, all of which pay better than Zeitview.

Come back and give us some updates on how your journey into the commercial drone industry is going. Good luck!

Thank you!