Drone pilot as a new career ????

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Hey all , I’m Ray from Columbia SC. I’m thinking/considering make a career jump to commercial drone pilot. I would greatly appreciate any input or insight good and bad from experience commercial pilots on any and all aspects of the field, especially from pilots in Columbia and surrounding area thanks in advance for any help !!!!
 
Welcome to the forum.
Maybe join our sister forum as that’s what it’s all about ?
 
WELCOME ABOARD!
 
Welcome to the forum! :)
 
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Don't give up your day job.
The world is awash with cheap, easy to fly drones.
There's an oversupply of hopeful drone owners that would like to work with drones, but there's a real shortage of people that need someone to fly a drone.
Sounds logical. Though I bet there's a market for good underwater drone pilots especially if they have the latest models with all the thingamabobs, do-dads, gee-jaws and crappola they have for them. Or invent a drone that finds gold, silver, platinum and precious gems and your phone might make a ringing sound.
 
Apologies to those who find this repetitive, but there is a lot more to running a successful drone company than pushing two joy sticks around. Are you up to speed with a marketing plan? Have you selected a target market? Are you knowledgeable with camera operations? How 'bout video editing? Have you ever run a small company before?

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Don't give up your day job.
The world is awash with cheap, easy to fly drones.
There's an oversupply of hopeful drone owners that would like to work with drones, but there's a real shortage of people that need someone to fly a drone.
well I say just keep current both skills and legalities. and you will eventually land a gig. if youre not capable enough I dont care how good advanced or great is the machine youre flying ..youre not going to impress anyone with your work. so stay sharp.
 
well I say just keep current both skills and legalities. and you will eventually land a gig. if youre not capable enough I dont care how good advanced or great is the machine youre flying ..youre not going to impress anyone with your work. so stay sharp.
 
Hey all , I’m Ray from Columbia SC. I’m thinking/considering make a career jump to commercial drone pilot. I would greatly appreciate any input or insight good and bad from experience commercial pilots on any and all aspects of the field, especially from pilots in Columbia and surrounding area thanks in advance for any help !!!!
How is your career as a drone pilot going? If you're still in SC, we may have someone interested in talking to you.
 
Ray -- As others have started to describe, there's a huge ton to learn more about making it a successful business than just the flying part. The market you choose to serve will steer what you need to learn. My recommendation is to build your business plan assuming that it will take a long time to build a base of repeating clients. Whether that's 2 years or 5 years depends a lot on the target markets, how much energy you put into it, and some old fashioned luck. It took me two years to reach break even on cash flow in/out. Oh and by the way, don't forget back ups for everything, from the birds to the computers. And you'll need liability insurance.

One way to start getting some experience is through brokerage firms. I call them dating services because they match buyers and sellers, i.e., jobs with pilots. Most of them use one form or another of competition among the flyers, and they do take a drag on the fee, so they're not a great source of profit or repeating business. Most of them are really low-end jobs, but they give you a chance to build your skills.

As you identify more specific questions, come back to the forum and you'll get more specific answers (accounting, software, equipment, specific market issues, etc).

Good luck.......... Bob R.
 

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