so ive been flying for about 3 years now, mostly just personal stuff and some free shoots for friends, and a few people have started asking me if I do paid work. one guy wants aerial video for his real estate listings and another is a construction company that wants progress shots every couple weeks. starting to think maybe i should actually make this a thing but honestly have no idea where to start with the business side of it.

like do I need to set up an LLC right away or can I just start taking money as myself for a bit? and the insurance thing is confusing me ? I have my part 107 already which is good I think but is that enough to actually operate commercially? I saw something about hull insurance vs liability and got lost pretty fast. also have zero idea what to charge. the real estate agent was asking about pricing and I kind of froze and said ill get back to him lol

anyone been through this who can share how they got started without overcomplicating it

went through pretty much the same thing about two years ago. honestly the LLC question depends on your state but for most people it makes sense to do it pretty early, mainly for the liability protection. its not that expensive and it makes you look more serious to clients too. sole prop is fine to start but if something goes wrong on a job site and someone sues you, your personal assets are on the line.

for insurance you definitely want liability coverage, the part 107 cert doesnt cover you commercially at all, thats just the legal authorization to fly for hire. look into Thimble or Skywatch for on-demand coverage if you're not doing enough work yet to justify an annual policy ? you pay per hour or per day which is nice when youre just getting started. hull coverage is for your actual aircraft if it gets damaged, which is separate and optional depending on how expensive your gear is.

pricing for real estate is all over the place depending on your market but most people around here charge somewhere in the 150-300 range for a basic residential shoot with edited photos. recurring construction gigs you can often negotiate a monthly rate which is nice for steady income. dont undersell yourself though, it drags the whole market down

the freezing on pricing thing is so real, I did the exact same thing my first time someone asked lol. what helped me was just looking at a couple other local drone operators websites and seeing what they listed, even ballpark gives you something to anchor to. and honestly real estate agents are used to negotiating with photographers so dont be scared to just name a number, worst they do is counter