so ive been flying for about two years now mostly just for fun, got my part 107 last spring and people keep asking me to shoot stuff for them ? weddings, a couple real estate agents, one guy wanted footage of his construction site. ive just been kind of doing it for cash under the table which i know is not ideal lol

anyway my wife keeps saying i should just make it official and im starting to think shes right but i have no idea where to start. like do i need an LLC right away or can i just operate as a sole prop for a while? and the insurance thing is stressing me out, ive heard numbers ranging from like $500 a year to way more depending on coverage and i dont even know what kind i actually need

also pricing ? this is the thing that kills me. i genuinely have no idea what to charge. i looked at a few local guys websites and some are charging $150 for real estate and some are charging $600 for basically the same thing. how do you even figure out what the market is in your area without just lowballing yourself into misery

any advice from people who have actually done this would be really appreciated, im not trying to quit my day job or anything just want to do this properly if im gonna do it at all

been running a small aerial photo/video business for about four years so maybe i can help a little. the LLC question ? honestly i'd do it sooner rather than later, it's not that expensive depending on your state and it just separates your personal stuff from the business liability wise. sole prop is fine to start but the moment you're doing paid work regularly you really want that protection

for insurance look at Skywatch or Verifly if you want pay-per-flight to start, but if you're doing this regularly a annual hull and liability policy makes more sense. i use a broker who specializes in aviation and pay around $900/year for a million in liability which covers most commercial clients. some bigger clients like property management companies or event venues will actually require a certificate of insurance before they hire you so you kind of need it anyway

on pricing ? the $150 real estate guys are usually either just starting out and undervaluing themselves or they're doing volume and have it down to a science. figure out what YOUR costs are per job, time editing, drive time, equipment wear, and then add what you want to make per hour. don't price based on what the cheapest guy is charging, that race to the bottom helps nobody

im kind of in the same boat as you so take this with a grain of salt but one thing i found helpful was just joining a local business facebook group or chamber of commerce thing and seeing what other creative freelancers charge ? photographers, videographers etc. drone work usually commands a bit of a premium over regular video just because of the gear and licensing involved so that gave me a rough baseline

also the under the table thing ? yeah get out of that habit sooner than later, not trying to lecture you but if something goes wrong on a job without proper insurance youre in a really bad spot