First off WELCOME to the forum from your neighbor up here in western NC. Interesting screen name... SAR as in Search-n-Rescue?
Just like any other profession you need to chose a path and once you know what you're going to be doing THEN you go out and buy the right tools. You could get started for as little as (base price no extras etc) $999 or you could easily start out with $30K in a high end system with advanced sensors etc etc. Define what avenue of UAS Operations you want to delve into and then you can start sourcing and pricing your tools.
Here's an exert from my "speech" I give to any wanna-be-entrepreneur (in the UAS Industry or otherwise). This one was in response to a request about "what to charge" for UAS services . . .
That's not the type of question that is easily answered on an International (or Country wide) forum (nor should it be).
Business pricing is derived from many variables and most are fairly unique to YOUR business and are fairly "regional". By that I mean what it costs me to operate my company for a day here in western North Carolina probably isn't the same as where you are in Kansas. Giving you my rates could potentially ruin your chances of getting off the ground (pun intended) in the first place. You need to know what is currently "acceptable" in your part of Kansas and it's going to take some effort and time on your behalf to find that out. Also you need to know how much time you're going to be spending in Post Processing, Editing, Finalizing, Delivering etc.
- We Shoot to acquire DATA. (Travel to site, time at site, travel back to office)
- We process the DATA at the office.
- We outsource some of our edits and do some in-house. I know how much each costs.
- Edited DATA is then processed into our system, named, cataloged, and then uploaded to a secure CLOUD platform for ease of delivery to our clients.
- Some projects requires Reports, Models, Printing (Large Format Maps), and other time intensive processes.
- We create invoices, send invoices, and collect payment.
- We track invoices/payments etc and enter then into our Backoffice system.
- All of this and then we have to maintain, repair, upgrade, update etc all of our systems (air, ground, IT etc).
We pay for editing software (Video and Picture), Cloud Software, Backup Software, Accounting Software, and Image/Video Delivery software just to name a few. That doesn't even start to touch the software we pay for in terms of FLIGHT and SAFETY.
I've been helping Small Business Owners for several years and the very first thing you should do when considering a business (
before you even spend the first penny) is develop a strong and comprehensive
Business Plan (
BP). I'm not talking about the 1-page template you get on Google but a in-depth plan that includes:
- Detailed Business Description
- Market Analysis
- Marketing Plan
- Competition Analysis
- Organization Description
- Products & Services Details
- Financial Projections (Cost and Income)
From this
BP you'll actually know how much it's going to cost to start the business, how much you SHOULD charge per operating hour, what your competition charges, and hopefully what your local market will "handle" in terms of charging.
It's VERY important to define and understand some key points of your business:
What unique skills (
not equipment) do you bring to the table? Merely owning a Mavic and having Part 107 does not make you an Aerial Photographer.
Are you able to provide a quality product that exceeds Johnny's nephew in middle school who just bought the new DJI Mini 2? Your product will be your calling card and if it doesn't scream WOW you're only setting yourself up for failure and a bad reputation. It any market it's hard to overcome a bad rep but in Real Estate (thats one of the most NETWORKING group of professionals I've ever dealt with.) it's even tougher. They talk to each other a LOT! The only thing they won't talk about is sharing their "Secret Weapon" etc. If you're lucky, you will end up being that Secret Weapon one day that helps them save/make more $$.
What is your Cost of Doing Business(
CODB) per day? Per Hour?
On top of
CODB how much do you need to make each day to stay in business?
A "real" Business Plan takes time, effort, and in some cases $$ to do and do it right. The good part is it could change the course of your business from the start.
Example: When we started developing ours, we had an idea of what to charge per "shoot". After we completed the Business Plan we realized our fees were too LOW! We actually started the business WHILE developing the BP and after we completed it we significantly increased our rates. Strangely enough, our amount of business (and of course profit) immediately started to increase. Our rates were not in line with what others doing similar work were charging so by having a LOW rate seemed to imply "Less Quality" or something like that. We increased our rates, did an Ad Campaign advertising new rates, and within weeks we were booking with clients who had otherwise not given us a 2nd look.
It's key to note we had a strong background in Photography prior to "Drones" so we weren't starting "green" in both Drones & Photography at the same time. You've got to have something other than a DRONE to stand out in the market. If you don't stand out you probably won't get hired.
Starting any type of business adventure without a detailed Business Plan is a lot like starting a cross country trip with no itinerary or map. Yea you'll probably get "SOMEWHERE" eventually and do some things along the way but it's probably not where you wanted to go and probably not going to be doing what you WANT to be doing.
Good luck
Allen
