Most new drone operators price by looking at what someone else charges and going slightly below. That produces a number nobody can defend and a business that runs out of money quietly.
Calculating what a job costs you
Count every hour. Enquiry, quoting, site visit, travel, shooting, editing, revisions and delivery.
Flight time is the smallest part. Frequently under a tenth of the total.
Editing is usually the largest. Two to four hours for every hour on location is typical.
Travel counts. Both the hours and the direct cost.
Equipment depreciates. Divide the replacement cost by the number of jobs you expect from it.
Consumables add up. Props, batteries, cards and storage.
Overheads are real. Insurance, software subscriptions, authorisations, phone and computer.
Unbilled time must be recovered. Quotes that do not convert are still work.
Storage has an ongoing cost. Client footage has to be retained for the period you promised, and aerial material consumes drive space quickly.
Add a risk allowance. One crash a year has to be paid for by the jobs that went well.
Turning cost into a rate
Decide your target annual income. Then work backwards.
Estimate billable days realistically. Weather, admin and quiet periods mean far fewer than the calendar suggests.
Divide accordingly. Target income plus overheads, divided by realistic billable days.
Compare with the local market. If you are far outside it, examine your assumptions rather than ignoring the gap.
Do not price to be cheapest. There is always someone cheaper, and their clients are the most difficult.
Price by project, not hour. Clients understand deliverables better than time.
Set a minimum job value. Below which travel and admin make the work pointless.
Charge for site visits. Or fold them explicitly into the project price.
Raise prices as you improve. Skill, equipment and reliability all justify it.
Structuring packages
Offer three tiers. Enough choice to feel considered, not enough to be confusing.
Define deliverables precisely. Minutes of video, number of stills, resolution and formats.
Define the shoot. How many hours on site, how many locations.
Define revisions. How many rounds are included and what constitutes one.
Define the timeline. Delivery measured from a stated trigger.
Define usage rights. What the client may do with the material.
Make the middle tier the target. Most clients choose it, so it should be the one you want to sell.
State exclusions explicitly. What is not included prevents more disputes than what is.
Put the price where it can be found. A quote that requires reading three paragraphs to locate the number frustrates the person who has to approve it.
Keep the quote short. One page that a busy person will actually read.
Extras and variations
Weather postponement. State who bears the cost of a wasted trip.
Additional shoot days. With a stated day rate.
Extra revisions. Priced per round.
New requirements mid-project. Quoted separately rather than absorbed.
Rush delivery. A premium, because it displaces other work.
Distant locations. A threshold beyond which travel is charged.
Out-of-hours shooting. Dawn, night and public holidays.
Permissions and site fees. Whether you obtain them and who pays.
Additional deliverable formats. Vertical cuts, alternative durations and stills exports each take real time and should not be assumed included.
Publish these in the quote. Agreeing extras in advance is straightforward; negotiating them afterwards is not.
Handling price pressure
Never discount without reducing scope. A smaller price buys a smaller job.
Offer a lower tier instead. It keeps the relationship and protects your rate.
Explain what the price covers. Many clients genuinely believe they are paying for twenty minutes of flying.
Be comfortable with silence. Not every enquiry should convert.
Beware promises of future work. Discounted first jobs rarely lead to full-price second ones.
Decline politely when it is too low. Underpriced work occupies time that better clients need.
Take a deposit. Particularly from new clients and on larger projects.
Set clear payment terms. Including when final files are released.
Record why a quote was declined. Over a year the pattern tells you whether the price is genuinely wrong or whether you are approaching the wrong clients.
Hold your rate. Consistency is what makes a rate credible over time.
Frequently asked questions
Which part of a job takes the most time?
Editing — typically two to four hours for every hour spent on location. Flight time is often under a tenth of the total effort involved.
How should I set a day rate?
Work backwards from a target annual income plus overheads, divided by a realistic count of billable days after weather, admin and quiet periods.
How should I respond when a client asks for a discount?
Reduce the scope rather than the price, or offer a lower tier. Discounting without reducing scope teaches the client what your work is worth.
Are promises of future work worth discounting for?
Rarely. A discounted first job seldom leads to a full-price second one, and the time it occupies is time unavailable to better clients.
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