This is an unpopular area in Nigeria so i will take my time to explain to you, how you can start your own company and make millions flying your drone in Nigeria, particularly if you're presently unemployed or underemployed or you're just looking for that next gig.
As someone that has been at the centre of business development for years and with a vast network, a lot of the things I talk about are things I have seen people do or have done myself.
Most wannabe entrepreneurs sit back and make up excuses why business ideas won’t work and never start anything.
What follows is a step-by-step guide describing exactly how you can make your first million in 6 months or less.
Step 1 – Buy a drone. A drone with 4k camera. Nothing less. There are plenty of nice options from any of the online stores. Just search.
Step 2 – Buy an IPAD or a tablet. Some might work with your phone.. You’ll need one to use with the drone controller.
Step 3 – If you’re in Nigeria, there are laws in place. To be clear, obtain a Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems Certificate from NCCA and register your drone (s) with them if it weighs more than 250grams. When operating over the high seas, obtain proper authorization from Air traffic Control. Check NCCA website here. Check here and here
Step 4 – You have a choice here, create a company or not. On one hand, you can simply register a business name & call it whatever you want. But these drones can cut a person’s head off. If you register a business name under your name and your drone hurt somebody, your house & all your assets are fair game in court. But a LLC shields your personal assets.
Step 5 – Create a Website or not. It doesn’t matter, what you really need is footage of you flying the drone, showing what you can do. In other words, don’t spend plenty time or money making a pretty website. Also, open social media pages, they can help really well here too.
Step 6 – Logo + Biz cards (Branding). Obviously, if you’re serious about making big money, you need to be professional. Get a nice logo made and some promotional materials made.
Step 7 – Practice Flying. In the beginning, you need to fly your drone every day, for hours. Do this for about a month until it becomes second nature. After that, you’ll be able to fly damn near anything.
Step 8 – Practice video editing, for editing footage from the drone. You can use Adobe or any other common easy to software. You can watch YouTube videos to learn this.
Step 9 – Now you’re ready for business, so you must decide what your niche is; These are the few areas you can specialize in;
Entertainment; You will assist movie producers with shots (Movies, music videos, commercials)
Events: Weddings, etc.
But these are highly competitive areas already in Nigeria, which is why I’m about to introduce you to this next area;
Industrial – Power plants, refineries, factories, etc. Stay with me. You see, there are many energy companies in the Niger delta alone, they have plants and facilities that are maintained by contractors. We once had a client in the downstream oil & gas – very frequently, their boilers will go offline and unable to produce due to malfunction in the tubes inside the boilers. The “OLD SCHOOL” solution has up until recently (and really still is) to build scaffolding inside these boilers and then have human workers crawl around inside there to look for leaks/issues/what have you. Thus, there are some problems presented (1) insurance issues (obviously), (2) high danger element, considering it’s pitch black inside, (3) as well as the potential risk in case someone were to fall and get hurt. These you can easily charge 300k per day. All you do is fly the drone inside of the boiler, take pics, make vids, and that’s it.
Oilfield Companies. You can do inspections. The Nigerian government recently passed the PIB, that contains a mandate that requires all oil companies to test the air for emissions. Note - if you end up landing a contract with an oil company for this, you're going to need to buy extra kit for your camera for excellent aerial shots, something like a DJI Matrice and fit it with a flir camera.
Finally, New High Rise Construction Projects in Eko Atlantic, Abuja in Nigeria- When you find these places you’ll notice some trailer houses at the project site. This is where the project manager (decision maker) will be. Remember to bring your Ipad so you can show him some pics and videos you’ve made flying your drone. Anyways, these project managers absolutely love to see time lapse photos and videos of their various projects. Traditionally, the project managers have to negotiate with adjacent buildings, in hopes that the adjacent buildings will allow the project manager to rent out space on top of the adjacent building to put a camera (that will take time lapse photos of the construction site). You will provide twice a month or once per month service, taking pics for all four corners of the project and will also take an orbiting 360 degree videos twice per month or once per month. Whatever the project manager wants. You can charge 200k or so for this.
So that it is. The entire business plan. Feel free to do your own research and run with more ideas.