so ive been flying for about 2 years now, got my part 107 last spring and ive done maybe a dozen or so paid gigs just through word of mouth, mostly real estate stuff and one wedding video that honestly turned out really well. people keep telling me i should just do this full time or at least make it a proper side business and im starting to think they might be right.

but i have no idea where to start with the actual business side of things. like do i need an LLC right away or can i just operate as a sole proprietor for a while. and insurance ? ive been flying without hull insurance which i know is dumb but the premiums i was quoted felt high for how little i was flying. now that im thinking about doing this more seriously i guess i need to sort that out.

also pricing. i genuinely have no clue if what im charging is reasonable. ive been doing real estate shoots for around $150-200 depending on the property size and im starting to wonder if thats way too low. anyone whos been through this process have any advice on where to start

the LLC question is one i went back and forth on for a while honestly. i ended up going sole prop for about 6 months just to see if the work was actually going to come in consistently before i paid for the setup. once i was pulling in regular clients i got the LLC done, was like $150 in my state and just gave me some peace of mind separating personal and business liability. not saying thats the right call for everyone but it worked for me.

on pricing though ? yeah $150-200 for real estate is pretty low depending on your market. i charge $275 for a standard shoot up to like 10 photos edited, more if they want video or its a larger property. some markets will support more than that, some less. i'd look at what other operators in your area are listing and just dont race to the bottom, it kills the whole local market for everyone. the clients worth having dont always go for the cheapest option anyway.

for insurance i use Skywatch, pay monthly and it's worked fine for me. hull coverage i only turn on for bigger jobs where i feel like i actually need it. theres also Verifly if you just want per-job liability coverage while you figure out a longer term plan.

im kind of in the same boat as you so cant help much on the business structure stuff but i will say the insurance thing is worth sorting out sooner than later. i flew without proper liability coverage for way too long and it just stressed me out every job. even just having the basic liability policy made me feel way more professional when clients asked about it, and some of them do ask.