We see many commercial drone operators, who are amazing pilots (and who deliver outstanding work to their clients) but who still struggle to build a sustainable  and profitable drone operating business. Does this describe you? Is it time for you to “RTL Mode” your business and re-think how you operate? 

That’s what this series of articles is all about. We’re interviewing top commercial Drone Operator  businesses to learn about the challenges that they’ve had (and how they overcame those challenges) in order to give you actionable insights on how to take your drone business to the next level. 

Commercial UAV Expo and the Level-Up Lounge: And there’s a bonus. Not only will we share those insights with you in this article series but each one of these drone operator businesses will be a panelist at the Level-Up Lounge in the middle of the trade show floor at Commercial UAV Expo on Wednesday, September 4. This will be an audience-driven event, so you’ll have a chance to ask your questions directly. You need to attend. Not registered yet? Go here. 

In the first article in this series, we talked at length with Jacob Lewis, who founded JCL Aerial Services in 2018, and we learned about how he manages every detail of a job and that results in amazing repeat business and in the second article in this series, we talked with Osarodion Victory Igbinobaro (who goes by his middle name, “Victory”), the founder and CEO of Aero AI, a start-up focused on creating amazing 3D imaging, to understand how “persistence” pays off to drive repeat sales. 

Who’s Miriam McNabb? 

Miriam McNabb is an industry veteran and has been covering the drone industry as a journalist since its infancy. Miriam is also the CEO of JobForDrones.com, an online marketplace for commercial drone jobs. A passionate advocate for the drone industry, Miriam is a believer in the potential for commercial drones to improve economies and communities around the world. Miriam is a writer and global speaker about all aspects of the drone industry. 

Understanding   

If we were to summarize Miriam’s advice to drone operations in one word, it would be “understanding.” You need to understand the constraints, problems, and forces affecting your customers to hone your sales pitch. 

The Interview 

Eno and Justin: Miriam, what is the biggest challenge you think drone operators are facing now to grow?

Miriam: Initially, all drone work was done by contractors and then a few years ago many companies started to shift their drone work to in-house. Now I’m starting to see companies re-think their in-house programs - or at least start to consider using outside contractors again.” 

Eno and Justin: OK. That’s interesting. So, it’s more of an opportunity than a challenge?

Miriam: It’s both really. I think a lot of companies that have in-house programs realize that it’s a major challenge to comply with all the regulations. But also, it’s a problem of scaling those programs. That’s the opportunity, but you still need to give the right pitch to convince them that you as a drone operator are the solution.

Eno and Justin: Can you go deeper on the scaling problem?

Miriam: It’s just logistics. Some months you may have tons of work and other months you’ll have none. If you are an in-house company, then you have big problems managing that workload. 

Eno and Justin: Got it. So how does that change how a drone operator should approach companies with in-house programs?

Miriam: That’s where the sales pitch needs to be changed and part of your business model too. If an in-house program has scaling problems, then you need to have a pricing model that works. It needs to encourage them to want to use you—and you use a lot. 

Eno and Justin: Can you give an example?

Miriam: You’ll need to go to the Level-Up Lounge panel discussion for that! 

About the Authors:

Eno Umoh is an expert in marketing and business operations and is the co-founder of Global Air Media & The Global Air Drone Academy where he has taught in 26 countries over 18,000 students about drone technology, best practices, and how to make a drone business scale and get to profit. Eno collaborates with drone businesses to help them achieve their goals.

Justin Call is the Co-Founder and CEO of Modovolo, a start-up that's built a drone to carry any payload for hours instead of minutes at a cost far below anything on the market. You'll want to see it for yourself. He has been an executive at venture capital and private-equity-backed technology and data companies with three exits ranging from $1.5 billion to $130 million. He has deep experience in leveraging data to understand and build businesses.