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USA Seeking inspection work, how to find it

Joined
Apr 15, 2019
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I’m a part 107 pilot who flies drones and shoots video with drones for my freelance work in television industry. I own Mavic Pro and Inspire 2. I’m seeking industrial
 
I’m based in Brooklyn, NY, thanks

Without offending anyone in those industries...

I have to warn you that these are NOT lucrative markets. In fact, they're not even decent markets....especially if you're coming out of the film industry. It'll take you 10-20 inspections to equal one 8-hour day on set (no O.T.). Double those inspections for a 12 hour day. If you did inspections alone, it would take you 6 months to a year of STEADY work to ROI your equipment. I looked into that industry and even went as far as to go to the meetings. After examining all the time spent on paper work, ground photos, COMPLIANCE (I HATE compliance) and the 700+ aerial photos the client was requesting (yes, you read that right, SEVEN HUNDRED photos), I amortized my hourly rate to about $30/hour. Generally speaking, my minimum for ANY job is $100/hour. Some jobs double or triple that rate. $30/hour just wasn't a carrot for me...which is also why I quickly got out of the residential real estate market (the commercial real estate market was okay).

If you're looking for alternative markets, I found "construction progress" videos fairly lucrative. Depending on the job site, I charge $200-$400 per shoot, which consists essentially of a POI and a nadir strafe (for construction forensics). I shoot every other week (26 times/year). All you have to do is save a client thousands of dollars ONE TIME and you're in like Flynn. One of my nadir strafe videos revealed utilities being installed in the wrong place. Without my video, this debacle would've gone unnoticed by architects, who sit in an office all day. They spotted the mistake very early on saving thousands of dollars in change orders (over $10,000). They've been a loyal client ever since.

I go a little beyond POI for my clients (as you'll see in the video). Here's an old example of one of my clients. On my back burner is full progression video, which will include color correction and more attention to detail. But because the work is coming in withOUT this video, I have continued to put it off. This is just a quick test video.


All that said, I'm the worst salesman in the world. If clients don't call me, I don't work...ugh... With even the slightest sales savvy, I could imagine one could come up with a 6-figure/year income doing this.

D
 
Last edited:
Hi Donnie,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I'm starting up a drone service business as a retirement gig, so I'm not trying to get rich. Rather, generate a little revenue doing what I love (flying and video production). So far I have my Part 107 license, 3 aircraft and a website. I've heard a lot about real estate, depending on where you are there is some good work possible (I'm in rural N. TX and ranches and land are hot commodities up here right now). That's a niche I was looking to explore, anyway. Any thoughts there? I've also been looking at commercial construction, although it's out of my experience so I'm not really sure where to begin exploring there. Any advice or suggestions you could offer would be most appreciated.
 
Without offending anyone in those industries...

I have to warn you that these are NOT lucrative markets. In fact, they're not even decent markets....especially if you're coming out of the film industry. It'll take you 10-20 inspections to equal one 8-hour day on set (no O.T.). Double those inspections for a 12 hour day. If you did inspections alone, it would take you 6 months to a year of STEADY work to ROI your equipment. I looked into that industry and even went as far as to go to the meetings. After examining all the time spent on paper work, ground photos, COMPLIANCE (I HATE compliance) and the 700+ aerial photos the client was requesting (yes, you read that right, SEVEN HUNDRED photos), I amortized my hourly rate to about $30/hour. Generally speaking, my minimum for ANY job is $100/hour. Some jobs double or triple that rate. $30/hour just wasn't a carrot for me...which is also why I quickly got out of the residential real estate market (the commercial real estate market was okay).

If you're looking for alternative markets, I found "construction progress" videos fairly lucrative. Depending on the job site, I charge $200-$400 per shoot, which consists essentially of a POI and a nadir strafe (for construction forensics). I shoot every other week (26 times/year). All you have to do is save a client thousands of dollars ONE TIME and you're in like Flynn. One of my nadir strafe videos revealed utilities being installed in the wrong place. Without my video, this debacle would've gone unnoticed by architects, who sit in an office all day. They spotted the mistake very early on saving thousands of dollars in change orders (over $10,000). They've been a loyal client ever since.

I go a little beyond POI for my clients (as you'll see in the video). Here's an old example of one of my clients. On my back burner is full progression video, which will include color correction and more attention to detail. But because the work is coming in withOUT this video, I have continued to put it off. This is just a quick test video.


All that said, I'm the worst salesman in the world. If clients don't call me, I don't work...ugh... With even the slightest sales savvy, I could imagine one could come up with a 6-figure/year income doing this.

D
Hi Donnie, Thanks for your thoughts on these issues. Have you looked into drone mapping, perhaps working with/for a surveyor? Could you briefly define POI and nadir strafe? Thanks much, -
 

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