How to Choose a Drone Franchise

With over one million people using drones for hobbies — and over 400,000 for commercial use — drone businesses are becoming more and more popular, especially when joining a drone franchise. It’s a $14 billion industry, so if you’re interested in starting a drone business for yourself, you can find various niches that fit your interests. But with any industry, there’s the debate between creating your own enterprise or joining a franchise. If you opt for a franchise, we’ll help you understand how to measure drone franchise cost and choose the best option for you.

Drone Business vs. Drone Franchise ​

Perhaps you’ve already settled on a franchise. But if you’re still weighing your options, let’s look at the difference between a business and a franchise.

Starting a Drone Business

Starting your own business might sound appealing. You have more control over every aspect, including marketing decisions, pricing, services offered, etc. But, at the same time, it’s a risky move, as you’re investing your own money into something that may or may not work. On average, the cost to open your own small business ranges from $2,000-$5,000. This is just the starting price for incorporating your company and includes basics like establishing your LLC, initial equipment purchasing, or the first month’s rent and deposit if you’re opening a physical location.

As your business grows, so do your expenses. And, once again, there’s no guarantee that your drone business will take off successfully. That doesn’t mean it won’t work; it just means you’re taking a risk.

Joining a Drone Franchise

To minimize the risk, many opt to join a franchise. Instead of starting your own company, you provide services under the name of an already established business in the field. One of the biggest perks of a drone franchise is that you get to skip a lot of the initial startup work, and you join a business that already has a strong customer base and reputation, meaning it’s easier to get jobs right away.

There are plenty of other perks to joining a franchise. You may not be the captain of your ship making all the decisions, but you have near-endless support from the business’s headquarters. They can help you determine a site location, provide training resources for your employees, understand systems and product ordering, produce marketing materials, etc. It takes the guesswork out of all those small business decisions that you may not even know exist, all with a large team to support you.

Measure Drone Franchise Cost

One thing that does deter entrepreneurs from joining a franchise is the initial cost. The startup costs for a small business are minuscule compared to those of a franchise. But that’s because you’re paying for everything you’ll need up-front. When you start a business, you have initial costs followed by all the expenses as you grow, expand, and continue your services. Eventually, those will add up significantly.

With a drone franchise, you’re paying those costs from the start. Let’s look at a couple of examples: 

• Drone Nerds is a company that sells and repairs drones and offers flying lessons. If that’s your niche and you want to join their drone franchise, you’ll invest a $24,900 fee and owe the company 4% of your sales annually. 
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• Hommati is a company that uses drones for real estate images and videos. This is a drone service growing in popularity, so if you choose to join this niche, you’ll pay an $18,900 fee and 7% of sales annually. 

When you measure drone franchise cost, you must pay more at the start. But you get what you pay for: all your branding and advertising, a strong customer base, and support from the company headquarters.

Choosing the Drone Franchise That’s Right for You

When the time comes, you’ll need to choose the right drone franchise that works best for you and your situation. There are a couple of essential factors to consider: your preferred niche and your budget.

Your Preferred Niche

The first thing to consider is what kind of business you want to join. Do you like working with drones because you like to use them yourself, or do you prefer to offer others support? Do you want to be service-based or goods-based? Luckily, there are plenty of uses for drones and ways to get involved with a drone franchise. Here are some examples:

• Real Estate: The real estate industry has found a lot of success using drone footage to appeal to those looking to buy a home. Drone imagery offers a different perspective and allows buyers to see more. In this type of franchise, you’d be flying and creating the imagery.
  
  
• Tourism: Likewise, tourism companies worldwide use drones to capture imagery that entices visitors with unique perspectives. Again, you’d be the one doing the flying and capturing the images and footage.
  
  
• Surveying and Monitoring: Construction companies use drones to save time and money by surveying sites, mapping, monitoring progress, and more. Other organizations also use drones for other monitoring purposes, like wildlife monitoring or ranch monitoring. Once again, you’d be the one flying and producing imagery.
  
  
• Sales, Repairs, and Flying Lessons: If you prefer to support others who want to pursue drone businesses or enjoy flying as a hobby, you can work with a franchise that offers drone sales or repairs, or even one that provides flying lessons.  

This is not an exhaustive list, as there are other ways to get involved with drone businesses and drone franchises. You need to think about your interests and decide what area of work fits your niche best.

Your Budget

As we already mentioned, the initial investment for a drone franchise is much higher than that of starting your own business. So you need to take a good look at your finances and determine what makes sense for you. We can’t put an exact figure on it because everyone’s situation is different. Please reach out to us or connect with an attorney who works with franchising if you need help. 

Besides the two drone franchises listed above, let’s look at a few other options and consider the initial investment cost.

• BirdsiVideo works within various commercial services (real estate, tourism, monitoring, etc.), so this franchise covers several niches. The initial investment a $45,000 fee and 10% of sales annually.
  
  
• Dronebase and FlyGuys also work with various commercial services, but they act more like a freelance network for drone pilots. You contract your work with these two franchises, but you don’t have to pay any initial fees.
  
  
• Drone Pilot Ground School and UAV Coach are both businesses that offer flying lessons. Similar to the freelance concept, you work as a contractor and don’t pay any initial fees.
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You can find more examples of drone franchises in a previous blog post, but these few show you several options for all different types of interests and budgets. For those that need financial assistance, you can write a business plan and present it to banks that offer business or franchising loans. This funding can also help you purchase any equipment you may need.

Pursue Your Drone Franchise Dreams

In the end, you want to choose a franchise that makes the most sense for you, your budget, and your interests. It truly doesn’t have to be more complicated than that! If your dreams include working with drones, then you can make that happen with a drone franchise. 
For more information, check out our quick guide to drone franchises. If you have any additional questions, you can use our blog as a resource, read our FAQs, or send us a note!