Future outlook from the independent drone service provider.

Outta Control · Mar 2, 2018

Well this was expected, but not in the high numbers that they are now.

Based on Drone Deploy's latest industry report and from SkyLogic Research, 67% of large firms will develop their own drone program (mapping/survey/inspection) in-house.

I expected those numbers to be around the 45-55% range but not 67.

As far as independent contractors go?

A meekly 10% will be needed. This is not encouraging news, as I expect it to shrink further within a couple of years.

"...2017 was, without a doubt, the year of the enterprise drone program. At DroneDeploy, we saw the number of internal programs surge as companies decided to bring operations in-house. This is to be expected, just as IT departments began popping up when large firms started adopting computers. A 2017 survey from Skylogic Research shows that the majority of companies currently flying drones are choosing to hire in-house employees (67%), while just 10% choose to contract out their services. Almost a quarter (23%) prefer a mix of both..."

This will be a very tough road. Early adopters to being a service provider will have an edge as you fight for contracts, the rate charges will fall into the likes of the real estate industry, or the likes of DroneHive, DroneBase will be the only way operators can find opportunities. Think of them like a employment temp agency.

R.Perry · Mar 2, 2018

I've seen the hand writing on the wall already. The job I'm on originally hired someone, fortunately for me it didn't work out, his quality of work wasn't the best, and then they found out he had no license. I was told there were other problems. The superintendent said he didn't want the headache and hired our company to do the work. We just need to deliver superior quality in a professional manner.
When you consider the investment of say a Inspire 2, lens, batteries you need to make a decent profit, otherwise you are wasting your time. I do believe you are correct, it is going to become a very tough market in the future as more people get their 107 and jump into the construction market. Real Estate has become a joke, there just isn't any decent money in it any more.

BigAl07 · Mar 2, 2018

I concur with ALL the above. I've already seen the Construction Industry "start" to get flushed out with people coming onboard trying to get their cut of the pie. As Real Estate became a total swamp with little to no profit left we are seeing more and more people "attempt" to get into the Construction side.

Fortunately for those already doing well in the market we have a distinct advantage of having experience, contacts, and a known high quality deliverable.

Like @R.Perry I have acquired contracts that were given to others due to their short comings. I've also been hired to Re-Shoot the work of some of my competition and done so at my FULL rate.

Having a high quality (verified) deliverable coupled with good business sense is going to make a HUGE difference over the next few years.

On the FLIP side... some early Corp adopters have learned there is a bit more than buying, charging, flying, and downloading the images for a quality finished product. At ever level of the formula you need some talent, experience, and COMMON SENSE! One of my best clients (now) bought their own sUAS early on in 2017 and used an unCredentialed intern (fresh out of college) to fly their new Inspire2. He had about 1 hour on the aircraft before he backed it into a transformer and watched it tumble down onto the company SUV. Thank goodness it was THEIR SUV and it wasn't driving down the road at the time of the mishap. It totaled the sUAS and did a good amount of damage to the SUV (windshield, top of cab, and the hood) from a paint & body standpoint. Now they simply email me the project address and wait for the email with data and invoice.

Now is not the time I would consume my savings account, quit my day job, put a new mortgage on the home, or borrow the kids College Fund in order to start a new sUAS business. I'm afraid the "Gravy" has been licked off the plate and in short time we'll see nothing left but some gristle.

R.Perry · Mar 2, 2018

I agree with BigA107, I wouldn't jump into this business as a primary source of income. The company I work for supplies my Inspire 2, batteries, lens, and whatever I need. I'm semi retired so this is a two day a week gig for me that pays pretty well. I think the money is going to remain in the big jobs and not so much on the smaller construction jobs. I also think to be successful one needs to offer more than just drone work, but interior mapping and photography. I had a home/commercial inspection business and also did real estate photography, again that wasn't a primary source of income. I used the Phantom 4 for roof inspections and it does a fine job for that purpose. I only had a few clients that wanted drone photography with their real estate photos, again a few wanted me to throw the drone photography in with the RE photos and I wasn't willing to do that.

WVDronePilot · Mar 3, 2018

Wow, so I'm not the only one feeling this way.

I started out managing a drone department for an engineering firm. They were going down a dark road of BVLOS and Airspace without Authorization, so I started out on my own a year ago, full-time, no backup. Very tough beginnings!

I have a few contracts now which are very good, but have to do other non UAS work to survive. I saw a bright future for UAS operations, and for the most part still do, but in West Virginia the small market that is here is being eaten up with "company departments" and "nephews with drones."

I agree with everything that has been said in this thread because I have experienced it.

But always the optimist:"Put more water in the soup mama, there is better times a coming!"

R.Perry · Mar 3, 2018

I think one needs to look for opportunities that not everyone can fill. The company I work for has a strong network of people, we offer 24 hour turnaround on our mapping, and panos and the folks that do the media work do an excellent job. We have a talented sales force that knows how to get business. A one man operation would have a tough time competing. Also look for clients with deep pockets, colleges, government agencies, and major construction companies. We have many jobs going in San Francisco, only problem there is you can't fly in most of the city. One major job is close to San Francisco airport so all photography is from the ground. They attempted to get authorization in San Jose for a new hotel going up, FAA said no way, too close to airport. So yes construction can be a very tough market.

Mike Nevins · Mar 3, 2018

I think the biggest problem will be early buy in from medium construction companies. The same goes for Ag, and Inspection. Time will tell. I do agree that you have to offer more than just the flight portion. But as Big AI07 stated he has had to re-fly because of bad pilots. Quality work, good deliverables, and cross-platform (end-to-end) seems to be the ticket right now. Nice to be a part of something in its infancy, our course that includes a lot of indigestion as well.