so ive been flying for about 3 years now, got my part 107 last spring and been doing stuff for friends and a few local real estate agents for basically nothing. like charging $75 for a full afternoon of shooting which i now realize is insane. anyway my wife keeps saying i should just make it a real business but i honestly have no idea where to begin. do i need to form an LLC right away or can i just operate as a sole prop to start? and the insurance thing is confusing me ? ive been looking at Verifly and SkyWatch and i dont even know if those are enough or if i need something more serious. also how do people actually price this stuff. i feel like i just make up a number every time someone asks me. is there like a standard rate card or does everyone just wing it

ok so I went through almost exactly this about two years ago so let me just tell you what I did, not saying its the only way. I started as sole prop just to get clients flowing and then switched to LLC after about 6 months once I had some actual recurring work. the LLC thing is more about liability protection than anything else and your accountant can help you figure out the timing. for insurance ? those on-demand apps like Verifly are fine for one-off gigs but if youre doing regular commercial work you really want a dedicated annual policy. I use Global Aerospace and its around $800 a year for a million in liability which sounds like a lot until you realize one incident and youre completely exposed without it. on pricing honestly the best thing I did was just google what photographers in my area charge for real estate and then go slightly under while I was building a portfolio. now I charge $250 for basic exterior real estate shoots and up to $600 for full packages with video. some guys charge way more depending on market. dont undercut yourself forever though, it actually makes clients trust you less weirdly enough

not sure about the LLC stuff but the pricing thing ? I heard somewhere that you should figure out what your gear cost and how long until it pays itself off and work backwards from that. never actually done it myself but it seems logical. also $75 for a whole afternoon is genuinely wild, please charge more lol