Drone Business, suggestions and advice?

Essjayne · Mar 14, 2018

Hi everybody,

So I've been really on the idea of trying to start up a business flying drones. There are so many uses for aerial footage from art to real estate to advertising etc. that I think it would be feasible to eventually do this full time (down the road with a lot of hard work of course). I'm a trained photographer, but I ended up pursuing a different means of supporting myself financially so I would not get burnt out doing the thing I love all the time.
(There are many reasons I went the way I did, but a one big one was I was never big on portrait work and there being if I spend all of my time shooting and editing other people's weddings/parties etc I would not want to spend my free time on my own work, which was always much more large composition focused using found geometry, buildings and landscapes.) However in flying my drone I've found that it's something I could see myself doing full time and through sharing some footage and having discussions with people in my area (Long Island) I've found a few potentially solid market ideas that I think could really work out.

I'm wondering how many of you have gone this route and if you have any advice, suggestions, tales of caution etc.

Currently I'm 24 and I am fortunate that I have a decent paying job that has already indicated they would be flexible so I can get this off the ground. (Pun totally intended)

Bunny Too · Mar 14, 2018

Essjayne said:
Hi everybody,

So I've been really on the idea of trying to start up a business flying drones. There are so many uses for aerial footage from art to real estate to advertising etc. that I think it would be feasible to eventually do this full time (down the road with a lot of hard work of course). I'm a trained photographer, but I ended up pursuing a different means of supporting myself financially so I would not get burnt out doing the thing I love all the time.
(There are many reasons I went the way I did, but a one big one was I was never big on portrait work and there being if I spend all of my time shooting and editing other people's weddings/parties etc I would not want to spend my free time on my own work, which was always much more large composition focused using found geometry, buildings and landscapes.) However in flying my drone I've found that it's something I could see myself doing full time and through sharing some footage and having discussions with people in my area (Long Island) I've found a few potentially solid market ideas that I think could really work out.

I'm wondering how many of you have gone this route and if you have any advice, suggestions, tales of caution etc.

Currently I'm 24 and I am fortunate that I have a decent paying job that has already indicated they would be flexible so I can get this off the ground. (Pun totally intended)

Howdy from Wyoming @Essjayne , welcome to the community, plenty of fine folk and excellent information here.

LuvMyTJ · Mar 14, 2018

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Mavic Pilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in Mavic quadcopters.
Enjoy! Thumbswayup

*MAVIC PRO/PLATINUM MANUAL: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/Mavic Pro User Manual V2.0-.pdf
*MAVIC AIR MANUAL: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic Air/20180213/Mavic Air User Manual_v1.2.pdf
*GO 4 APP MANUAL: DJI Go 4 Manual

LuvMyTJ · Mar 14, 2018

Hello,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Mavic Pilots forum.
I hope that you will be able to use the forum to further your safety knowledge and for the exchange of innovative ideas and as a resource for current developments in Mavic quadcopters.
Enjoy! Thumbswayup

*MAVIC PRO/PLATINUM MANUAL: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/Mavic Pro User Manual V2.0-.pdf
*MAVIC AIR MANUAL: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic Air/20180213/Mavic Air User Manual_v1.2.pdf
*GO 4 APP MANUAL: DJI Go 4 Manual

fiatdale · Mar 14, 2018

Welcome. No drone business here. I would research who does it in your area and try to offer a different angle that they aren't providing. Theres definitely money to be made if you can offer something nobody else can.

TrayBoz · Mar 15, 2018

There are several "commercial drone business" podcasts available on iTunes that you can download and listen to for free. I've listened to a LOT of them over the past year, and still do.

To sum up what I've learned researching this over the past year, and learned from these podcasts, here are the high points:

1) It's going to be very difficult to sustain a profitable business by doing ONLY real estate videos. At least in the beginning, you'll need a diverse line of services to stay in the black.

2) You're probably going to need multiple drones, and for many projects, a mavic is not going to cut it when your competition is using Inspires and bigger/better.

3) Currently (as of March 2018), charging enough money to make a profit, in most parts of the United States, is difficult because the supply currently outweighs the demand = too many drone pilots / too few projects.

4) The only real money too be made with drones in most areas of the country is in large commercial projects. i.e. you get a contract with a large oil company to survey all 600 of their oil rigs from the air every week. Doing small, 1-time projects like a real estate shoot or a wedding, or inspecting 1 roof at a time is going be difficult to sustain a full-time business.

5) To get the good jobs, you need a lot of documented piloting experience, a large portfolio/resume of excellent quality, professionally shot and edited work to show, and of course a commercial pilots license (Part 107 in the States).

6) Building a drone business takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of money. Don't plan on turning a consistent profit until 6 months to 1 year minimum. And that's if you're working at it full time. You'll need deep pockets to get started (or good credit, for loans.)

In other words, the message I consistently get regarding starting your own drone business is: Go BIG or go home.

I don't mean to sound discouraging. The demand for drones in commercial business, and the types of jobs, are predicted to continue to increase over the next 5 years. There will continue to be a need for serious, experienced pilots. Starting your own drone business can be done, and several people are doing it.

I was also thinking of starting a drone business, once-upon-a-time, but Alas, like most things in life, the more you look into it, the more you find that there's a lot more work and time involved than it initially appears from the outside. I decided it wasn't worth my time and investment of resources to pursue, for me personally.

I think maybe becoming a pilot for an existing drone company might be an easier road to having this "dream job", rather than starting and running your own company - just a thought.

My 2 cents. Good luck!

dirkclod · Mar 15, 2018

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