okay so this is mildly embarrassing but I've done maybe 8 or 9 paid jobs at this point and just kind of operated on a handshake deal and email confirmations. it worked fine until now but I have a property developer who wants to hire me for an ongoing thing ? like multiple shoots over a few months ? and his office is asking for a formal contract before they'll put me in their vendor system.

I dont have a lawyer and honestly cant really afford one right now. has anyone put together their own contracts for drone work or used a template from somewhere? I want to make sure im covering myself on stuff like weather delays, airspace issues that might cause a reschedule, usage rights for the footage, and what happens if the client wants changes after delivery. I feel like im missing a bunch of things I dont even know to think about

also do I need to have my LLC set up before signing a contract like this or can I sign as myself

you can absolutely sign as yourself, that's just a sole proprietor situation, totally normal and legal. the LLC thing is worth doing eventually but it wont block you from getting this contract.

for the actual contract ? I grabbed a template from a photographer's resource site a while back and just modified it for drone work. the key things I added were a weather/airspace cancellation clause that gives me at least 24hrs to reschedule without penalty, a section on who owns the raw footage vs the edited deliverables (I always keep the raws), and a kill fee if they cancel within 48 hours of the shoot. also spell out your revision policy explicitly, like how many rounds of edits are included and what you charge after that. people get weird about revisions if its not written down.

honestly even a solid one-page document covers you better than nothing. just make sure both parties sign it, even if its just a docusign situation.

the usage rights thing is something people really sleep on. if this developer is going to use the footage commercially ? like on their website or in ads ? thats different from just using it internally and you should think about whether your one-time fee reflects that. some guys charge a licensing fee on top of the shoot cost for commercial use. not saying you have to but worth thinking aobut before you sign anything