What if the next major wave of entrepreneurship is happening 400 feet above your head? The drone industry is unlocking six-figure business opportunities for early movers.
In this episode of The Agent of Wealth Podcast, John Williams is joined by Damon Darnall — “The Drone Boss” — to explore where the drone industry is heading, how entrepreneurs are capitalizing on emerging verticals, and why automation, AI, and air-mobility systems are shaping a multi-billion-dollar future.
In this episode, you will learn:
- How to get started in the commercial drone industry with just a $1,500 drone and build a profitable business.
- The steps to earn your FAA Part 107 license and why it’s the first essential step before launching a drone business.
- Which industries and verticals are most promising for drone services, from real estate and agriculture to inspections and cinematography.
- How focusing on results, not just technology, helps drone entrepreneurs stand out and win clients.
- What the “low-altitude economy” is and how autonomous drones will change the way businesses operate in the next few years.
- And more!
Tune in now for a fascinating glimpse into the future of drones — and the business and investment opportunities that will follow.
Resources:
dronecommandlive.com | The Drone Boss | Bautis Financial: 8 Hillside Ave, Suite LL1 Montclair, New Jersey 07042 (862) 205-5000 | Schedule an Introductory Call
Disclosure: The transcript below has been edited for clarity and content. It is not a direct transcription of the full episode, which can be listened to above.
Welcome back to The Agent of Wealth Podcast, this is your co-host John Williams. Today, we’re diving into an industry that’s really taken off (no pun intended?) – the drone business. From photography to inspection to logistics, drones are reshaping how work gets done across multiple industries. And for entrepreneurs, it represents an opportunity.
Joining me today is Damon Darnall, also known as “The Drone Boss.” Damon is a pioneer in the drone space, with decades of experience ranging from racing and records to innovations in event marketing.
He serves on NASA’s unmanned traffic management board, founded the Skye Network – the largest organization of professional drone experts – and has trained more than 25,000 people to get their commercial drone licenses. He’s also helped over 10,000 entrepreneurs launch successful drone businesses.
Damon, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me, John. It’s great to be here.
Yeah, I mean, I am really excited. I just think the idea of drones has taken off so much. My experience with them is I’ve bought several for my sons — just little mini drones — and they love them. It’s actually a lot of fun for us. We’ve broken quite a few, too. It sounds like you’ve been involved with drones since the seventies, which I didn’t even know they were a thing back then. But with that said, maybe you could share a little bit about your journey and what first drew you to the world of drones.
Yeah, yeah. And drones have been around forever. Well, I say “forever,” actually. The first patent in the United States was held by Nikola Tesla for a drone back in 1898. So drones have always kind of led the forefront of aviation. In fact, there’s an organization called the AMA, which is the American Modeling Association, and essentially they’re what the FAA is to drones — but they were created 22 years prior to the FAA even being a thought. So it was pretty cool. The FAA adopted a lot of the rules that AMA had set up around aviation and airspace, and then quickly realized, “Hey, this is way different. We have people in ’em,” compared to what drones were doing.
But yeah, it’s been around for a long time. I was introduced to it in 1976, and it was just a love-at-first-flight type of deal. I was enamored by it — the whole idea of it.
So I kind of just stuck with it. It grew and grew, and I got into competitions and competing. And like you mentioned, I was able to set a couple of world records, which was pretty cool. I got to work with some really unique agencies and opportunities as I grew up.
But the whole challenge was that this industry was pretty much self-regulating because it took literally thousands of flight hours before you were good enough to do anything at a commercial level, where you could get paid anything at all. So it didn’t really start developing until this last decade — about 10 years ago — with the invention of these micro accelerometers and micro gyros, essentially the same things that are in cell phones. You know when you turn the phone one direction or another, it knows which way it’s going?
That really brought the technology to the forefront. Drones went from being incredibly difficult to fly to ridiculously easy to fly, if you invest in mid-range drones that have all the sensors and all the systems on them. It really opened up all kinds of doors.
In fact, Precedence Research just released their newest study, and they’re showing that right now we’re around the $20 billion mark annually in the commercial drone side. And that’s going to grow over the next several years to $1.5 trillion in the commercial sector. And that’s not government stuff, that’s not worldwide — that’s here in the U.S. It’s a massive, massive opportunity. It’s one of the only things I’ve ever seen in my lifetime — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that normal people can get involved with. It doesn’t require tens or hundreds of millions to get started. You can get started with a thousand-dollar drone and go out and earn a pretty good income.
I’ll never forget the first time I got my son one of those little mini drones. I was shocked at how accurate they were — just a little tap on the controls, and how steady they were. And this was a $50 one. I can only imagine how accurate they get down the road. You mentioned commercial versus government, and I think there’s a lot of talk about drones in the government space. You said you got into it in the seventies — was it already something the government was using?
Yeah, there were programs back then. But really, in the mid-eighties and late-eighties is when it really started developing from there. It was still kind of in its infancy stage compared to where it is now.
But we’re seeing — even if you follow anything with Ukraine and all the stuff over there — you can pretty much just make homemade drones and go out and do all kinds of crazy stuff with them. So there are pros and cons to all this stuff. If you have a lawnmower and you don’t respect it, bad things can happen. Same thing with a knife or a fork or whatever. But there are tons of good things — and more things coming out — on the non-military side.
On the commercial side, the FAA has identified about 300 different vertical markets where drones can help companies, and where people can build businesses around them. Everything from Hollywood cinematography to aerial funerals where we’re spreading ashes, to agriculture, to search and rescue, nuclear power plant inspections, cell phone towers — all that stuff.
And the real-world benefits are pretty cool. Usually we get to help companies make more money, save money, introduce efficiencies, and sometimes save lives. Even something as simple as a golf course — we can fly over and scan the course, map it, and tell them where they’re overwatering, underwatering, over-fertilizing, under-fertilizing. And all that sounds cool, but the real-world benefit is that we save the average golf course about 16 to 18 million gallons of wasted water a year, because they overwater everything. And we save them around $200,000 in wasted fertilizer every year because they over-fertilize everything. And of course, all that washes into the community and pollutes it. So there are lots of benefits.
I realize I have to apologize — I took the conversation into a dark place there with the question about defense.
Oh, no worries.
But yeah, it’s interesting. That was my first exposure — hearing about drone strikes, unfortunately. And then from there, I’ll never forget the first time I saw a drone someone was flying recreationally. I just remember thinking it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. You mentioned already a couple of these examples, but it seems like there are so many industries benefiting from drones — agriculture, real estate, delivery. I remember hearing how Amazon was going to launch, or maybe was working on launching, a delivery program. What would you say are some of the biggest opportunities out there in the drone market right now?
There’s so much. I mean, really any and all of them are massive. If we look at the most crowded sector — the one that’s the most competitive — it’s probably real estate photography. That is definitely the most competitive one out there. But the cool thing about it is this: even in the most competitive industry, it’s only seven to nine percent saturated, depending on which report you read.
If you parlay that over to any other business — to have over 90% of the marketplace completely wide open — that would be a dream for any other industry. And that’s where we are right now.
We classify things as beginner, intermediate, advanced, and really advanced business models for people to pursue. Part of that classification is the complexity and difficulty, but also the cost. There’s a big difference if you’re doing a FLIR stack inspection for an oil refinery — the equipment you need and the insurance. By the time you get the sensors, drone, and everything you’d need for a flare stack inspection, you’re probably looking at around $300,000 in the drone you’d outfit for that. And any time you do anything professionally, you have to have a backup. So you’re looking at a good $600,000 to $700,000 in equipment before you could even think about breaking into that inspection area.
But on the flip side, if you look at something like real estate, you can get started with a thousand-dollar drone. We have people making more money flying a drone — just doing real estate flying — than as a captain for United, Delta, or American Airlines.
It’s pretty nuts. In fact, the FAA released a white paper last year — or maybe a couple of years ago — and they listed unmanned aircraft as the “dream job of the future,” talking about piloting, which is kind of cool.
And to your point, yeah — delivery is heating up. Walmart launched their delivery program in two cities about two months ago. Right now, if you’re in one of those cities, you get free delivery on anything you order from Walmart that’s up to eight pounds, as long as you’re within two miles of the store — and you get it in less than 30 minutes.
Yeah, it’s so cool. When you watch Back to the Future and see flying cars and all these things, you’re like, “Okay, the future is here.” You see the drone stop as it approaches the front door, drop the package, and fly away. It’s amazing that that time isn’t far away — or it’s happening right now.
So let’s say somebody is listening today and thinks, “I want to get started.” I imagine you don’t just buy a drone and start a business right away. What does that look like? What do you recommend for someone who’s just starting out but has the idea that they might want to get into business?
First thing is — these are aircraft operating in national airspace. So it is a highly regulated industry. The first thing you have to do is get your FAA Part 107, which is essentially your license to operate a drone commercially. That’s the first thing you need if you’re going to operate and get paid.
After that, decide on which drone you’re going to get, and then decide which vertical market you’re going to go into. That’s the one thing where I see a lot of entrepreneurs struggle — there are over 300 different markets, and they’re all pretty sexy. The problem is people want to do 10 things at once. They start all 10, and they don’t get the traction or results they want.
So my recommendation is: pick one. Just pick one, go into that, really focus on it, and blow it up.
And then if they want additional training, we do that. We have a two-hour intro training, and then we have a three-day immersive training. It’s three full days — not an hour or two each day, but full eight-, nine-, sometimes ten-hour days, live with questions. So that’s a good path for people who are exploring. But the path is: get licensed, decide on your drone, decide on your industry, and just pick one.
Is there a way to get better at using the drone? Do you recommend people just practice?
The crazy part — and if you’ve never flown one of these good prosumer drones, it’s hard to comprehend — is that these are AI in the sky. There are so many sensors and so many computers, just like a modern fighter jet. Drones are easier to fly and harder to crash than ever before.
So the amount of time it takes to get good enough to fly professionally, for some of the low-hanging-fruit jobs like real estate or aerial imagery, or even intermediate work like hotels and resorts — you can literally learn to do that in less than an hour of flying because of the AI systems.
For some of the more advanced shots, the drones have real-time AI learning built in. All you do is highlight the subject, press a button, and the drone does the work for you. It blows people’s minds.
Another big thing — and I think this is super important — is how people present the value they add to clients. A lot of clients don’t even know drones can help them, or how it would benefit them. We talk to companies that use inspections, and some know they’re going to use drones, but they don’t really understand how or the benefits.
It blows my mind that we’re not using drones in all inspection areas. Last year there were over 300 fatalities during inspections — across cell towers, wind farms, bridges, dams, power lines — and 82% of those fatalities were just routine inspections a drone could easily do. Which is nuts. But again, it’s a disruptive industry. Nobody is doing it at scale yet, so everyone is hesitant.
But the big part is educating the marketplace. It’s that proverbial elevator pitch. If you get in an elevator wearing a drone shirt that says “Cool Guys Drone Services,” and the guy next to you says, “Oh, what do you do?” — this guy could be a CEO or the person in charge of inspections for a wind farm or GE.
Most people say, “Oh, well, I fly drones. It shoots in 8K, it’s got this camera…” And he’s like, “Oh, that’s cool. I got my nephew a drone for Christmas.”
And that’s it.
It’s about positioning. If you rewind and he asks, “What do you do?” and you say, “I help companies save money, get more clients, introduce efficiencies, and impress everyone they know,” that’s a different positioning. Then he usually says, “Oh, how do you do that?” And now you can go into detail.
A lot of people get caught up in the tech instead of the results. Clients don’t care about the drone — they care about the result. In the golf course example, they care that you’ll save them from infections or disease risk and save them a couple hundred thousand dollars a year, which they can take back to their board and look like a hero.
You mentioned a commercial drone license. What does that entail?
Actually, it’s quite simple. Right now it’s just a written test. You do it with the FAA — you have to go to a testing center in person. It’s a 60-question test, multiple choice — A, B, or C.
It’s about airspace, weather — some of it is applicable to drones, most of it isn’t. This was the FAA’s first stab at creating a structured system. There’s no flight test, no proficiency test. You can be commercially licensed without even owning a drone or knowing how to fly.
When I say it’s simple, I mean the process is simple — but if you’re not used to taking tests, you’re going to want to study 12–20 hours before taking it. And I recommend not spreading that out — do three or four hours a day, three or four days before the test.
When it comes to profitability or realistic expectations — what is realistic for someone, whether it’s a side hustle or a full-time business? And what are some of the more profitable areas someone new should look into?
Well, it depends on everybody — your work ethic and how hard you’re going to go. What I can share is that when we first started our network, we did a beta program. We got a handful of people, and I had three criteria: they couldn’t have any drone experience, any photography or videography experience, and they couldn’t have any successful entrepreneurial experience. I defined that as never netting more than $42,500 a year in net revenue.
Some of these guys had plumbing or HVAC businesses doing almost a million in gross sales, but after taxes, expenses, payroll — their net revenue was $38,000, $40,000.
We put these guys in, gave them a roadmap and a plan. The goal was to get them from zero to six figures in 12 months. And they were all doing this part-time, which worried me. Only one guy did it full-time. The good news is they all hit the number. They all surpassed six figures.
Then we launched our network. We’ve had people make a quarter million dollars in their first five weeks. And we’ve had people make absolutely nothing in their first year. It’s like a gym membership — joining doesn’t mean you’ll look like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
It seems like the overhead would be low once you have the actual drone. You mentioned the potential $750,000 investment for certain areas. What is a realistic initial investment for a beginner?
For 95% of everything people start with, you can do it with literally a thousand-dollar drone. Well, let’s call it a $1,500 drone — you’ll want extra batteries, the case, all that. So around $1,500, and you can cover about 95% of what most people would do. You can build multiple divisions in your drone business generating over six figures with that drone alone.
Your other expenses would be video and photo editing, which have come down dramatically. Minimal. And your clients are essentially paying for that anyway.
Where expenses start to jump is advanced marketplaces — thermal, heavy-lift drones, agriculture drones, seeding drones, spraying drones — then software and hardware both go up.
We recommend everyone build their first six-figure or quarter-million-dollar division before jumping into intermediate vertical markets.
Long way to answer your question — around the $1,500 mark is the realistic starting point. Then add a little for business cards, flyers, LLC setup — basic business expenses.
With the barrier to entry being so low, where do you see new business owners stand out? And how much of the opportunity is simply that not a lot of people are doing this versus people figuring out a formula?
I think it’s both. We have people join our network who tried to do it on their own and struggled. They were doing the wrong things at the wrong times. Their elevator pitch was wrong. They weren’t presenting themselves properly.
But the other big part is simple supply and demand. Right now demand is way up here, and supply is way down here. It’s slowly catching up, but right now — I tell people — you can suck and still do well for a short time. Not much longer. And I don’t recommend anyone sucks — they should perfect their craft.
But we’re in this unique moment. There are basic cinematography rules — like never letting the drone’s shadow appear in your shot. And I’ve seen national TV shows breaking these rules. Totally unacceptable, and will be unacceptable in a year or two, maybe three.
We’ve got maybe a three-year gap before everything levels out. Then it’s like any other business — you can still do it, but it won’t be as easy. If you want to open a pizza shop in New York today, you can — but it’s a lot harder than being the first or second.
So that’s where the opportunity is. Once you get established in your area or industry, you quickly become known as the drone expert because there just aren’t many people doing it. That’s where the great opportunity lies.
Interesting. So where does your business meet that? You’ve trained thousands of people. And to be honest, when I first read that, I thought you were sitting someone down with the controls. But now I’m thinking the training is much more about the business — the elevator pitch, the steps you need. What does that look like for someone who wants to get off on the right path and invest in your services?
Yeah, so that’s exactly what we do. We focus on the business side and on the flying. I have a training program to get people ready for the 107, so they can pass the test and fly legally. We have all the training around that.
And then probably the biggest benefit we have — we call them business plans, but they’re really roadmaps. These identify the low-hanging-fruit opportunities and outline exactly what you need to do. We provide everything: target market, scripts, promo videos, flyers, brochures, support documents, presentations (if applicable), pricing, how to deliver everything, how to fly the drone, all the settings for the drone, all the settings for everything.
We roll this out in different vertical markets. We’ve got five complete business plans. Anyone who joins our network can pick one and follow it to a T — and have pretty remarkable success if they’re willing to put in the effort. Of course, I can’t make income claims, but on average, people are building six-figure businesses using just one of those playbooks.
We also offer other opportunities, including flight-instructor certifications. Right now, we’ve certified more flight instructors than anyone else in the world. These instructors train people how to fly drones and how to prepare for their Part 107 test, for those who want hands-on learning. It’s another strong revenue stream — some instructors are making up to $5,000 a day training new pilots.
There are so many directions people can take once they’re in the network. Some are passionate about animal conservation, others about the energy sector or agriculture, and others about cinematography. We have people doing everything from search and rescue to construction analytics. On the construction side, for example, we can run cut-and-fill analysis, time-lapse documentation, and 3D and 4D mapping. The possibilities are endless.
We even have one guy who specializes exclusively in aerial funerals. He built an impressive business in a small town in a surprisingly short amount of time.
Wow. I guess it’s similar to many industries — once you find a niche, word of mouth starts working in your favor. Are there areas you feel haven’t been tapped into yet? Or things on the horizon where you expect explosive growth in the drone industry?
Absolutely. There will be thousands of vertical markets — many we haven’t even imagined yet. Right now, there are about 300 and growing. The future is what they’re calling the “low-altitude economy,” meaning everything happening below 400 feet.
I sit on the NASA board for UAM — Unmanned Traffic Management — and for the last decade the focus has been on how to safely integrate all of these drones into airspace. And do it without creating visual or noise pollution, especially as delivery drones scale up and companies like Uber Air come online.
China recently launched beta testing of their air-taxi systems in two cities — essentially large autonomous drones that carry people, straight out of The Jetsons. Uber Air has been investing heavily in its division for the last eight years, and they’ve recently received new approvals that will accelerate that progress.
The future is going to be wild: small drones, large drones, all kinds of autonomous systems operating together.
For drone business owners, the role is going to shift dramatically. The technology already exists today — what’s holding things back is regulation. Soon, drones will operate like advanced sprinkler systems. They’ll rise out of a self-charging dock, run a mission — mapping a golf course, a crop field, an inspection site — return to the dock, upload the data automatically, and that data will trigger a chain of autonomous actions.
In agriculture, for example, the mapping drone’s data will go to a spot-spraying drone, a pesticide drone, a seeding drone, and even GPS-guided tractors. Drone business owners will transition from manually flying drones to installing, customizing, and maintaining these automated systems for clients.
The pace of development is unbelievable — like dog years. What I expect to take one or two years is happening in months, and it just keeps accelerating.
That’s fascinating. I was really asking whether you saw any emerging opportunities that are more investable — somewhat like how people are looking at AI and trying to get involved passively.
There are definitely companies I’m invested in that have done well. But a lot of the big players are tied to military applications and military contracts. Those contracts aren’t awarded yet — and when they are, if they go through, those companies could explode. If they don’t, those same companies may go nowhere.
Very cool. Alright, Damon, we’re just about out of time. This was excellent — very eye-opening and incredibly interesting. Thank you for joining me on this episode of The Agent Evolve Podcast. It was a lot of fun hearing about everything happening in the drone world.
Before we wrap up, where can listeners find you, get in touch, or learn more?
The best place is Drone Command Live — dronecommandlive.com — which is our three-day immersion training. You can also look up The Drone Boss on Google, YouTube, or at thedroneboss.com to see everything we offer. I’d love to help anyone who’s curious about getting involved in the drone industry and exploring the opportunities that exist.
Great. We’ll link to that in the resources section of the show notes. Thanks again, Damon. And thank you to everyone who tuned into today’s episode. Don’t forget to follow The Agent of Wealth on the platform you listen from and leave us a review of the show. We are currently accepting new clients, if you’d like to schedule a 1-on-1 consultation with our advisors, please do so below.
Bautis Financial LLC is a registered investment advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial advisor and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed herein. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.