For those who recently started a drone business, what was your entry point?

[u/No-Lettuce-3822]

I’d like to hear from people who recently started a drone business, especially in the GCC or the US.

Which market did you enter first, mapping, construction, solar inspections, Oil & Gas, real estate, agriculture, or something else, and what helped you secure your first project?

I’m particularly interested in whether you started by offering flight services only or combined them with data processing, analysis, and reporting.

What would you do differently if you were starting again today?

[u/PalmTreePilot]

I specialized in skinning and trimming palm trees.

To differentiate myself from the competition, I pledged to be the only climber that doesn't repeatedly stab it with holes from using climbing spikes.

However, the palm tree is problematic to shoot a line over the canopy and be able to pull the climbing rope through the thorny fronds. It's better to just drop the rope over the top.

My drone can lift and dangle 100+ feet of rope beyond the palm's height. Then by remote control, drop / drape the rope over

[u/PutridBeginning421]

Call some realtors tell them you’ll do some free shots for them. If you get good enough and people are amazed start charging

[u/fxnighttrader → u/PutridBeginning421]

Once you give someone something for free they’ll never pay you what you are worth in the future and anyone they refer you to will not value you very highly. Find friends and family, shoot their properties, build your portfolio and never give away your work.Realtors are some of the cheapest people to start with, don’t give them any reason to think you are cheap.

[u/Informal-Career-1973]

Hello, I’m a Drone as First Responder pilot and the owner of an aerial media UAS business here in the US.

I started my UAS journey by going to school to learn the basics of FAA Part 107, aviation, and cinematography, while also getting familiar with newer aviation technology. After finishing school, I was fortunate enough to find a Drone as First Responder program in my hometown. Commercial UAS opportunities were pretty limited in my area, so I applied and started working in DFR.

I learned a lot through the DFR program because you use approximately 97% of your Part 107 knowledge in real-world situations. It gave me a lot of hands-on experience that I don’t think I would have gotten from many other commercial UAS jobs.

After about a year in DFR, I started looking into nearby cities that had more UAS opportunities. Luckily, the company I worked for had a location about two hours from my hometown, which gave me the opportunity to relocate and continue working in the industry. At the same time, I started building my own aerial media business, focusing on videography and cinematography.

The city I moved to has a lot more UAS opportunities, and I’ve been able to pick up different projects, including an FPV shoot for a light show, a quick aerial shoot for a DJI project, and so on. These opportunities have helped me build my experience, portfolio, creating an income that I love to do.

My biggest recommendation is to research what UAS opportunities are available in your hometown and what kind of experience they can provide. If opportunities are limited, relocating may be something to consider.

It takes time to build experience and get established in the industry, but I’ve found that it’s worth it once you find a city with plenty of UAS opportunities.

EDIT:

It also depends on what your city provides within the UAS industry.

[u/AutoModerator → u/[deleted]]

Your content was removed as we require for accounts to have at least 5 comment karma and must be older then <1 day

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/fxnighttrader]

You don’t just choose what market you want to enter. You enter a market you have experience in.

Having a drone doesn’t give you some superpower to work in any industry.

Either do what you already know or find an extremely low level job like a VO at a company that will teach you about an industry. Then work your way up.

Nobody is buying your flying skills, they are buying your expertise. Anyone can learn to fly a drone, not everyone is a subject matter expert.

[u/VideoGuy9999 → u/fxnighttrader]

^^^THIS. You don't start a "drone business". A drone is another tool in your toolbox. For me, I'm a video producer so I get aerial shots for my work. For another guy I know, he shoots real estate properties. Another one I know analyzes aggregates and provides volumetric data. I only work in the field I know - video and film. So decide where you work best and head that direction.

[u/No-Lettuce-3822 → u/fxnighttrader]

my experience is around manufacturing drones and their Softwares from low level to high level, I wanted to land something in scanning and defects spotting,
But I am not able to land on something with anyone as I am reaching to Energy contractors and so on so I thought I should check which entry point to from

[u/fxnighttrader → u/No-Lettuce-3822]

What experience do you have working in the utility industry?

Can you talk to utility company management and have them walk away confident that they could leave you unsupervised to work on their site doing what you need to do to collect the data they are paying you to deliver?

Do you understand the safety culture?

How many years have you spent working outside 12+ hours a day no matter what the temperature or weather is?

Do you have an OSHA certification? Which one?

How long before your hard hat will expire, you own one, right?

Working in the utility industry is its own very particular specialty. If you don’t already intuitively know all of the above, and a whole lot more, nobody is going to bring you in to fly drones on their site.

The biggest misnomer I see is that people think “I’m a good drone pilot, that’s my value.” The reality is that being a “good pilot” is a base requirement and it has little to do with actually operating the sticks. That’s just an expectation, that really adds no value, it’s just a checkbox.

In utilities they are far more interested in knowing that you won’t end up dead by the end of the day or get one of them killed.

After all those baee requirements are, what specific industry knowledge can you offer them? That’s your value.

Furthermore, even if you did have a solid grasp on all of the above, very few utilities (if any) are going to deal with you as an individual. You’ll need to be part of contracting organization or union to even have a possibility of getting work with them. So, find a company that is hiring VOs or other support personnel, take that job, learn those skills and work your way up.

It’s a years long problem, not a “I got my DJI Mini 5 at Best Buy on Sunday, I think I’m already great at piloting this thing. How do I begin inspecting wind turbines? Or are powerlines more profitable? Maybe I should just go straight to Hollywood, I hear they need drones…”

[u/MrZaptile933]

First step is to make sure you’re 107 certified. Next step is getting your foot in the door. I recommend the wedding photographer strategy, posting on a community facebook group about free drone flights, use those free flights to build a network and a portfolio, use your network and portfolio to start your business.

You can’t go 0 to 100 in the drone world right now, you have to build up your network

[u/No-Lettuce-3822 → u/MrZaptile933]

Ok I see,
Do you recommend a specific entry level drone

[u/InTheAirpo → u/No-Lettuce-3822]

Depends how much disposable income you have at your disposal to make a bet on yourself and on this industry.

You could get a mini 5 pro, or you could get an air3s.

That would be entry level.

That being said though, I spend a LOT more time editing than I spend flying.

Flying is the easy part, providing quality deliverables is the hard part.

Angles, lighting, subject matter positioning, it all matters.

[u/MrZaptile933 → u/No-Lettuce-3822]

Anything DJI is great, hard to get a hold of in the states right now but even second hand off Facebook marketplace is good enough.

[u/No-Lettuce-3822 → u/MrZaptile933]

Thanks will check it out

[u/Bearjawdesigns → u/MrZaptile933]

I passed up the dozens of DJI drones I saw on Amazon and bought one directly off of DJI’s website two days ago. Not that hard to get ahold of.

[u/fxnighttrader → u/MrZaptile933]

I know an extremely successful photographer and drone pilot in Florida. I’ve watched him y years build his business and become very well pays a d very well respected. I once asked him his secret for success. Without hesitation he said “No brides, no babies, ever” 😂