New Pilot Looking For Advice

[Ask Ketchum]

Hello all,

I am new to the forums and am a newly licensed advanced drone operator located in Ontario, Canada. I have many years of manned piloting experience as well as several years of drone piloting experience as a hobby. I am looking to get started on a drone side business and was hoping to pick a specialization to work towards and offer services in. From my research, it looks like popular specializations/niches include: photography/videography, mapping/photogrammetry, inspections, thermal imaging, and agriculture. I would like to pick one of these areas and work towards building my expertise in it so that I can buy the appropriate drone, get any required additional training, and offer high quality services to my future clients. I was hoping to keep my startup costs in the $10,000 - $15,000 range and then scale up as my business and skills grow over time.

For those of you who have been in this business for awhile, which drone services are in reasonable demand and not over saturated with low paid work? Which steps would you recommend to entering the market and reaching out to potential customers? Is my budget reasonable or do I need to put up more money to get my business rolling?

Thanks for the help!

 

[dangerd]

Figure out what you enjoy doing and then do that. Don't do something you hate every day just to make more money. Once you figure that out you can determine how much you will have to spend in order to follow your dream.

 

[Ask Ketchum]

Figure out what you enjoy doing and then do that. Don't do something you hate every day just to make more money. Once you figure that out you can determine how much you will have to spend in order to follow your dream.

Thank you. I am primarily interested in either thermography and or mapping with drones. The main concern I have is that I don't have a background in GIS, surveying or thermography so I feel like I might be underqualified to do the work and that I won't be able to provide high quality deliverables to end clients.

 

[dangerd]

I don't know much about surveying or thermography so I can't give much advice to that. I do videography. Maybe you can take some classes and learn what you don't know. I watch a lot of video on YouTube. DroneU talks a lot about the more technical areas like thermography. Maybe take a look at their site thedroneu.com, I think you can get a limited free membership before you have to pay, and see if they have any courses on the subjects you are interested in.
Good luck!

 

[Ajkm]

Thank you. I am primarily interested in either thermography and or mapping with drones. The main concern I have is that I don't have a background in GIS, surveying or thermography so I feel like I might be underqualified to do the work and that I won't be able to provide high quality deliverables to end clients.

If you are anywhere London, Fanshawe College has a commercial RPA graduate certificate programme - I think it may be the only one of its kind in Canada. There is also a GIS department at the college. Currently all teaching is online.

 

[AMann]

How good are your business and marketing skills? You will only be successful at it if you are good at selling a product and running a business.

As a geography and environmental science major, and then later working in environmental sciences for about 15 years, I learned a lot about using GIS and photogrammetry as a tool for work. Private contractors who use this technology mostly do it in house and with multispectral platforms that cost at least as much or more than the drone itself. Also, they would probably expect mapping to be certified by a licensed surveyor if it is to be used for construction or regulatory mapping. Government contracts also often require equipment with capabilities costing much more than $10k.

Personally, I thought about doing the same thing and have been lucky to get some gigs here and there including flying to make archeological aerial survey maps for my wife’s company, but those jobs are far and wide because I suck at marketing and would absolutely hate to run a business. I have a great day job now as a teacher that lets me use my drone in my technology classes, that may be a better niche for you - people all over pay to learn stuff. Just an idea…

 

[Ask Ketchum]

How good are your business and marketing skills? You will only be successful at it if you are good at selling a product and running a business.

As a geography and environmental science major, and then later working in environmental sciences for about 15 years, I learned a lot about using GIS and photogrammetry as a tool for work. Private contractors who use this technology mostly do it in house and with multispectral platforms that cost at least as much or more than the drone itself. Also, they would probably expect mapping to be certified by a licensed surveyor if it is to be used for construction or regulatory mapping. Government contracts also often require equipment with capabilities costing much more than $10k.

Personally, I thought about doing the same thing and have been lucky to get some gigs here and there including flying to make archeological aerial survey maps for my wife’s company, but those jobs are far and wide because I suck at marketing and would absolutely hate to run a business. I have a great day job now as a teacher that lets me use my drone in my technology classes, that may be a better niche for you - people all over pay to learn stuff. Just an idea…

I am an airline pilot as my main job and I would be doing this as a side business. I have run a business before but in an unrelated field (software development agency) so I am familiar with marketing and selling. I agree on all your points; it seems that to offer drone mapping/survey it is best to be a licensed surveyor first and then to add drones to the business. Same goes for industrial inspections and a host of other niche fields in the drone industry.

I think the teaching aspect is a good idea. I just passed my drone flight reviewer exam and have a drone flight school interested in affiliating with me so that I can act as an instructor and flight reviewer. I was also thinking of making content for YouTube and Udemy on drone training.

 

[Ask Ketchum]

If you are anywhere London, Fanshawe College has a commercial RPA graduate certificate programme - I think it may be the only one of its kind in Canada. There is also a GIS department at the college. Currently all teaching is online.

Thanks I will have to look into it. I like the fact that its online as London is about a 2 hour drive for me.

 

[AMann]

I am an airline pilot as my main job and I would be doing this as a side business. I have run a business before but in an unrelated field (software development agency) so I am familiar with marketing and selling. I agree on all your points; it seems that to offer drone mapping/survey it is best to be a licensed surveyor first and then to add drones to the business. Same goes for industrial inspections and a host of other niche fields in the drone industry.

I think the teaching aspect is a good idea. I just passed my drone flight reviewer exam and have a drone flight school interested in affiliating with me so that I can act as an instructor and flight reviewer. I was also thinking of making content for YouTube and Udemy on drone training.

Sounds like you already started down a path of your own… a successful one at that!

 

[Midsky8778]

Hello all,

I am new to the forums and am a newly licensed advanced drone operator located in Ontario, Canada. I have many years of manned piloting experience as well as several years of drone piloting experience as a hobby. I am looking to get started on a drone side business and was hoping to pick a specialization to work towards and offer services in. From my research, it looks like popular specializations/niches include: photography/videography, mapping/photogrammetry, inspections, thermal imaging, and agriculture. I would like to pick one of these areas and work towards building my expertise in it so that I can buy the appropriate drone, get any required additional training, and offer high quality services to my future clients. I was hoping to keep my startup costs in the $10,000 - $15,000 range and then scale up as my business and skills grow over time.

For those of you who have been in this business for awhile, which drone services are in reasonable demand and not over saturated with low paid work? Which steps would you recommend to entering the market and reaching out to potential customers? Is my budget reasonable or do I need to put up more money to get my business rolling?

Thanks for the help!

Welcome to the forum and the profession - you certainly have a head start with manned aviation experience.

Unfortunately from where I see things, independent operators don’t have many opportunities for real success. Most commercial clients are starting their own drone programs where they can roll aerial operations into an existing position and pay an employee a wage/salary that’s more cost effective for the company. Those clients who are still outsourcing drone work typically use brokers who, of course, pay less than market rate. The whole thing isn’t looking good if you’re not already equipped with pro systems and have existing relationships.

To put it simply, photography/videography for advertising (e.g. real estate, events, marketing) pay the least and are unacceptably saturated with amateurs. Mapping and surveying is gatekept by licensed surveyors and incredibly expensive GIS equipment. Thermal is your best bet as it seems the least saturated, and many clients just need raw deliverables since analysis is done in-house. Getting certified in thermography certainly helps you understand what you’re doing, but is a costly investment that might not pay off if you don’t plan on building a product that includes analysis/reports.

This opinion changes with the weather though, I might be more optimistic tomorrow.

 

[Ask Ketchum]

Welcome to the forum and the profession - you certainly have a head start with manned aviation experience.

Unfortunately from where I see things, independent operators don’t have many opportunities for real success. Most commercial clients are starting their own drone programs where they can roll aerial operations into an existing position and pay an employee a wage/salary that’s more cost effective for the company. Those clients who are still outsourcing drone work typically use brokers who, of course, pay less than market rate. The whole thing isn’t looking good if you’re not already equipped with pro systems and have existing relationships.

To put it simply, photography/videography for advertising (e.g. real estate, events, marketing) pay the least and are unacceptably saturated with amateurs. Mapping and surveying is gatekept by licensed surveyors and incredibly expensive GIS equipment. Thermal is your best bet as it seems the least saturated, and many clients just need raw deliverables since analysis is done in-house. Getting certified in thermography certainly helps you understand what you’re doing, but is a costly investment that might not pay off if you don’t plan on building a product that includes analysis/reports.

This opinion changes with the weather though, I might be more optimistic tomorrow.

Thank you for the helpful post. I appreciate the realistic perspective and the advice. I initially looked into photography/videography but quickly realized that it was oversaturated and a race to the bottom in my part of Canada. I then looked into surveying however as you mentioned being a licensed surveyor seems to be a requirement along with expensive GIS equipment. Industrial inspections also seem to be done either in house or require extensive expertise in what is being inspected.

I am intrigued to learn more about thermography. Which drone would you recommend to start off with thermography and which clients would be outsourcing thermal type work to independent drone pilots? I found an ITC certification for about $2,000 USD. Would that be a good one to get?

I have also obtained my flight reviewer license and will be conducting drone flight reviews through a local flight school. I was also thinking of making drone training courses on Udemy but not sure what the demand for that is...

 

[Midsky8778]

Thank you for the helpful post. I appreciate the realistic perspective and the advice. I initially looked into photography/videography but quickly realized that it was oversaturated and a race to the bottom in my part of Canada. I then looked into surveying however as you mentioned being a licensed surveyor seems to be a requirement along with expensive GIS equipment. Industrial inspections also seem to be done either in house or require extensive expertise in what is being inspected.

I am intrigued to learn more about thermography. Which drone would you recommend to start off with thermography and which clients would be outsourcing thermal type work to independent drone pilots? I found an ITC certification for about $2,000 USD. Would that be a good one to get?

I have also obtained my flight reviewer license and will be conducting drone flight reviews through a local flight school. I was also thinking of making drone training courses on Udemy but not sure what the demand for that is...

The ITC cert is widely recognized and is what I'm working towards myself. As for hardware - remaining within the 10-15k budget you mentioned, you're looking at an Inspire 1 with Zenmuse XT setup, most likely preowned. This should be less than 10k, though its an older setup and you'll have no RGB visual in-flight unless you manage a double gimbal - so technical flight skills will be important for safe and successful captures.

Unfortunately the next most affordable step up, a Zenmuse XT2 on the M200, is $16k+ (~$6k for M200 + ~$10k for XT2). Although if you took this leap, you would have a more robust system as the M200 has an IP43 rating, and the XT2 has both RGB and thermal built in. Of course don't forget that any real thermal work outside of search and rescue requires radiometric sensors of at least 640x512 resolution (prices above are for this type).

The training courses might be a good source of income but I'm unsure of the demand - in my 4 years as an sUAS professional I've never invested in paid training, but the industry is changing. With more pilots coming up through 'employer pathways', an organized training service might have potential.

My last post may have been overly pessimistic - there's certainly room for growth with things like 3D modeling or using orthomosaics for novel applications. I've done a bit of photomapping for construction clients where the ortho is used for simple progress tracking or non-critical measurements. But that's not the same demographic that's seeking survey-grade assets, and at the moment is a small niche that wouldn't support a business plan by itself. It's all about finding and filling needs, or problems/solutions.

 

[Ask Ketchum]

The ITC cert is widely recognized and is what I'm working towards myself. As for hardware - remaining within the 10-15k budget you mentioned, you're looking at an Inspire 1 with Zenmuse XT setup, most likely preowned. This should be less than 10k, though its an older setup and you'll have no RGB visual in-flight unless you manage a double gimbal - so technical flight skills will be important for safe and successful captures.

Unfortunately the next most affordable step up, a Zenmuse XT2 on the M200, is $16k+ (~$6k for M200 + ~$10k for XT2). Although if you took this leap, you would have a more robust system as the M200 has an IP43 rating, and the XT2 has both RGB and thermal built in. Of course don't forget that any real thermal work outside of search and rescue requires radiometric sensors of at least 640x512 resolution (prices above are for this type).

The training courses might be a good source of income but I'm unsure of the demand - in my 4 years as an sUAS professional I've never invested in paid training, but the industry is changing. With more pilots coming up through 'employer pathways', an organized training service might have potential.

My last post may have been overly pessimistic - there's certainly room for growth with things like 3D modeling or using orthomosaics for novel applications. I've done a bit of photomapping for construction clients where the ortho is used for simple progress tracking or non-critical measurements. But that's not the same demographic that's seeking survey-grade assets, and at the moment is a small niche that wouldn't support a business plan by itself. It's all about finding and filling needs, or problems/solutions.

Thanks, guess I will have to get out there and talk to people to find where the needs are. Aside from realtors I don't have many connections in other industries such as construction and solar where I would like to offer services to.

 

[spamgnome]

This is a pretty timely post for me--I think the OP and I are in the same boat. It seems pretty easy to invest a tom of cash in equipment, but unless one is skilled and experienced at using it, it will likely just gather dust.
Has anyone had luck getting non-real estate jobs through outfits like DroneBase? Seems like it might be a decent way to build a portfolio and gain the requisite experience. I've done a bunch of RE jobs for them but it's mostly for fun and to pay for the drone.

* Too funny. Just as I was writing this, a job came thru from DroneBase.