It’s been a while since we contributed valuable content to the drone world. With the FAA laws now making it easier for people to start a new drone business, we thought it was time to offer some valuable insight into our experience creating a drone business, as well as the trends we’ve seen at Hire UAV Pro in our more than 3 years in existence as one of the world’s largest drone marketplaces.
Have A Plan
I can’t stress enough how important it is to have a plan as to what type of drone business it is you’re going to start. As with any business, you cannot be all things to everyone. It is easy to answer every question with “yes, we can do that”, but that doesn’t do you any good in developing a business that fills a specific purpose. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to stick to the vision you have for your drone business, but doing that will pay off big in the long run. Just look at the Drone Market Report for the industry growth by 2020.
Get Legal
Everyone at this point should know about the legal requirements to being a drone operator. But if not, you’ll want to know right away how and what you’ll need make your business legal to fly for commercial operations. You’ll want to get really comfortable with the FAA UAS website. You’ll need to prepare for testing yourself to get a part 107. You’ll need to get a MINIMUM (and I mean bare minimum. Many clients, especially automotive, will ask for much more) of $1 million in insurance coverage. You’ll want to have all your equipment registered with the FAA. Finally, it is a good idea to meet with a lawyer about how to structure and indemnify your business. They may not be an expert on all of the airspace requirements, but they can certainly help get you thinking in terms of protecting your business.
Now What?
Now comes the “fun” part. At this point you must build value into your equipment. A business typically has zero valuation if it’s only based upon assets. So just because you have a brand new drone, X5r, and a sweet editing computer doesn’t mean diddly without some clients paying you for your work. I put fun in “” because it is a challenge to start building clients. You must be humble. You must be willing to do free work. You must be passionate about shooting for the love of it and not to get paid. And, you must be creative. Too often in this industry I meet businesses that fail to think creatively and get passed by by smaller, more efficient, and more creative businesses. That is the age we live in. No longer do you need a mountainous business plan to start a business. You need to be willing to touch and create every corner of your business at first.
Lucky for you, people are always willing to help. Hire UAV Pro still puts our direct phone number to CEO Graham Hill on the mainpage, and he responds with regularity. The reason being? Hire UAV Pro is about the community, and the community being smart, being legal, and being creative creates a positive growth for everyone in the drone industry.