A few weeks ago, I attended the “How to Start a Drone Business” workshop presented by Probyn Thompson from Air Probe UAV and hosted by the North Carolina Small Business Center Network and Pitt Community College. The workshop discussed the vast drone market and rules for operating a drone business along with hands-on operation of a drone. It also included tips and networks for obtaining more information. This blog post includes what I learned.
Did you know that there were 6.4 billion connected devices in the world as of 2016? These include all connected devices such as phones, computers, and all of the IoT (Internet of Things) devices that many of us use daily. The number of these devices is expected to increase to 50 billion by 2020.
· The market for wearables is expected to be $53 billion by 2019.
· The smart home market is expected to hit $60 billion by 2020.
· The drone market is currently a $127 billion business.
There are many areas of opportunity for drone businesses: Infrastructure, Agriculture, Transportation, Security, Media, Insurance, Telecom, Mining, and more. To make money in the drone business currently, it’s recommended that you operate in at least five of these areas.
To become a licensed drone operator, you must first obtain your FAA Part 107 license. You’ll also want to get some experience. Volunteering as a Safety Operator for another licensed operator allows you to log time and gain experience. Also, you’ll want to start a company – LLC, corporation, etc. (It’s not a good idea to launch as a sole proprietor because the liability is significant.) Speaking of liability, make sure that you have liability insurance. Verifly offers drone liability insurance.
To learn more and make connections with other licensed drone operators, check out these networks and tradeshows:
· Academy of Model Aeronautics
· Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International
· Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association
· InterDrone – annual conference and tradeshow
Thank you to Probyn, NCSMCN and PCC for offering this informative workshop!
