Drone operators wondering how to turn their love of flying into a business take note. Canada-based Recon Aerial announces that their drone business “startup solution” has landed in the US. The company will officially launch their US-based products at the end of this week.
Recon Aerial was actually the first drone company to establish a franchise business, but the company has taken a “leaner, a-la-carte approach,” to their US solution, says Brian Stoneman, Recon Aerial’s President. (The Canadian offering is a Recon Aerial Media Branded Licensing Program, a franchise “light” solution – to accommodate regulations, operators fly legally under their own business name while the front-facing business is Recon Aerial Media.)
The packages are designed – meticulously – to allow new commercial operators to build a business in weeks, rather than the months that it might take to grow organically. The core offering includes a flight ops manual complete with checklists, basic equipment, and brand marketing – including a website, business cards and key word research. With a robust bench of strategic partners, the company also offers a range of business services: Part 107 training, legal documentation and support, ground school, insurance, LLC setup, financing and a wide variety of software solutions.
How to Become an Expert: Vertical Workflows
At the core of the package are workflows – the “how to” for new drone operators, which the company has developed through use cases in each vertical. For example, a drone operator who chooses the “Aerial Imaging” startup solution receives 2 business use cases – a full set of instructions for real estate photography and golf course flyovers.
After the drone operator completes the mission, capturing the images, Recon handles the rest. Recon will process images and create the post production videos, allowing the operators to spend more time flying and marketing their businesses. “This is a real time saver, since even a basic survey of 250 images can take 2-3 days to process,” says Stoneman. “Our goal is to offer both upfront value to help people start up without breaking the bank, in more or less the exact niche they want – and to help them sustain their business by offering a solution to the data burden that no one seems to be talking about.”
The total package gets a drone operator up and running – with the ability to deliver quality products to their clients – in a matter of weeks, without being tied in to a larger enterprise structure.
“Our philosophy is pretty simple: ‘give drone operators what they need: nothing more…nothing less,'” says Recon Aerial.
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
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