Becoming Legit

[WildDoktor]

Another step in my journey to getting a drone services business going!

Purchase XSP
Fly, fly, fly
Business name registered
Talk to lots of people
Get all signed up to be able to bid on govt contracts
Fly, fly, fly
research, research, research
Get discouraged
Almost give up
Hear His voice
Get encouraged
Fly, fly, fly
research, research, research
Talk to more people
Get signed up as a preferred vendor for the city
Buy a snazzy vest


I got this from microaerialphoto.com. Stinking expensive for one vest ($53.53!), but the quality and service is / are both excellent. I can't wait to try it out in public!

(It's soooo clean...i may drop it in the dirt a couple times before I wear it.) [emoji23]

Sent using Tapatalk

 

[Squirrel!]

'Eyes Up' is the name of your company? I like it!

 

[wrdavis57]

Like the name too. Very catchy

 

[WildDoktor]

Thanks guys; yep...Eyes Up! Drone Services is the name. My son helped me come up with it. Strictly an "evenings and weekends" type of business for now; I am *definitely* keeping my full-time job!

I'm not too worried about setting up a website for now, but I needed a domain for email, so I was able to snag "eyesupdrones.com" and I'm happy with that.

The reason I'm not too worried about creating a website is that my target market is critical infrastructure...and since I expect it to all be fairly confidential, I won't really be able to post videos of "my work" to the public. (Which is also why I won't buy DJI...they restrict flight around critical infrastructure *and* send flight logs to china. Yeah...no thanks!) I'm actually expecting that after a job I'll just pop the SD card out and hand it to the client, so I won't even have the footage even if I wanted to post it! I think this also gives me a little bit of an advantage when a potential client says "I need to see your portfolio". At that point I can say that I don't have one because of confidentiality, so the next best thing is to arrange a demo flight for them at a nominal fee, and then give them the footage and let them decide if it's valuable enough to contract my services.

Wow...I'm rambling.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

Congrats on trying to start up your business. Just from reading a few posts from other members on here getting the right approvals and waivers can be very frustrating with the wait times only to find out that you needed to include more info.
Wish you luck in your new venture.

 

[bjtap]

WildDoktor,
The very best with your new business and don't forget to enjoy the XSP!

 

[AirmetTango]

Congrats on getting everything set up for the new business!! I'm kind of in the same boat - just doing the aerial work as a side business, and definitely kept the day job. I'm focused mainly on construction progress and real estate so a website was beneficial for me, but I don't really do any active advertising. Started the business last June when it was becoming clear that Part 107 was imminent, and I had the XSP and all the ancillary equipment/software, etc paid off easily by the end of the year. My only overhead expenses at this point are the website and post office box, so the business easily pays for itself and then some.

I don't expect to ever make it a full time business - the competition is too fierce. Everybody and their brother has a drone with a camera that can take decent pictures, so a lot of real estate agents just have their cousin Vinny take the pictures and use them. Or Bob from Accounting has a drone, so he gets sent out to do the construction progress/marketing shots for ABC Construction. It usually shows in the results, but it's hard to beat free. And we won't talk about the legality of them using hobbyist shots - most potential clients don't understand, and some don't care, that a commercial certificate is required to fly a drone for collecting images that will be used commercially.

I also wonder how many drone owners out there are actively selling their photos and running "under the table" aerial photo businesses without the proper credentials (or paying the taxes). Unfortunately the same sentence can be said about many drone pilots - many don't understand, and some wouldn't care if they did, that a commercial certificate is required to fly a drone for collecting images that they ultimately sell.

Yikes, now I'm rambling....sorry! Congrats again on the business! And the safety vest is pretty sharp...I might have to order one of those!

 

[WildDoktor]

Congrats on trying to start up your business. Just from reading a few posts from other members on here getting the right approvals and waivers can be very frustrating with the wait times only to find out that you needed to include more info.
Wish you luck in your new venture.

Thanks Agustine; yeah, I know all about FAA wait times...I'm one of the whiners here. It took me 3 months to get my first couple, and 4 months to get the latest one! But it was the most important one; now I can fly the *entire* class D airspace in my town, including on the airport property itself. That's such a relief, and I've been able to say in a couple recent meetings that I can legally walk outside where we're meeting and fly right *now*; other operators will need 3 months of lead time before they can fly.

 

[WildDoktor]

Congrats on getting everything set up for the new business!! I'm kind of in the same boat - just doing the aerial work as a side business, and definitely kept the day job. I'm focused mainly on construction progress and real estate so a website was beneficial for me, but I don't really do any active advertising. Started the business last June when it was becoming clear that Part 107 was imminent, and I had the XSP and all the ancillary equipment/software, etc paid off easily by the end of the year. My only overhead expenses at this point are the website and post office box, so the business easily pays for itself and then some.

I don't expect to ever make it a full time business - the competition is too fierce. Everybody and their brother has a drone with a camera that can take decent pictures, so a lot of real estate agents just have their cousin Vinny take the pictures and use them. Or Bob from Accounting has a drone, so he gets sent out to do the construction progress/marketing shots for ABC Construction. It usually shows in the results, but it's hard to beat free. And we won't talk about the legality of them using hobbyist shots - most potential clients don't understand, and some don't care, that a commercial certificate is required to fly a drone for collecting images that will be used commercially.

I also wonder how many drone owners out there are actively selling their photos and running "under the table" aerial photo businesses without the proper credentials (or paying the taxes). Unfortunately the same sentence can be said about many drone pilots - many don't understand, and some wouldn't care if they did, that a commercial certificate is required to fly a drone for collecting images that they ultimately sell.

Yikes, now I'm rambling....sorry! Congrats again on the business! And the safety vest is pretty sharp...I might have to order one of those!

Good for you AT; a little extra cash doing something you love is a great thing...it really doesn't have to become full-time to be fully enjoyable!

I call those guys/businesses that do things illegally "cowboys", and they are everywhere. They undercut prices, don't care about regulations, don't care about their "clients", since the people paying them can get fined 10x as much as the actual pilot! Oddly, they normally put out *fantastic* videos / stills! On youtube. Even though they're illegal. *sigh* I don't know why the don't just "become legit"; they could be making *so* much money!

Ah well; as somebody semi famous said: "I can't control what anybody else does. Heck; I can barely control myself!" So I try to not let it bother me too much, and try to concentrate on doing the best I can do within the law.