Why Drones Aren’t The Be All And End All

The Pros and Cons of Using a Drone For Business

It’s no secret that drones have revolutionised the way we do things when it comes to business. From drone inspections, to increasing the safety of our team, and even search and rescue operations, they have varied uses. But, they aren’t always the right tool to be using, depending on your business needs. Like most things, drones have their pros and cons. The important thing is to understand their limitations and the restrictions of using drones in certain circumstances.

Recognising A Drone’s Limitations – The Cons of Using Drones

When we get a new gadget to use in our business, it can be all too tempting to apply it for any and all operations. After all, you have trained up your team, have the right certificates and invested a lot of time and effort into this machine and believe that drones for small businesses are a good thing. You want to get the most use out of it, right? Of course you do! But it’s important to understand a drone’s limitations and that it isn’t the best thing for all applications. Let’s take a look at an example.

You have been tasked to perform a building inspection that is within 3NM or 5km from an airport. The client has asked for a 3D model of their asset, along with high resolution images that can be used to find any defects or problems. This is a great opportunity for your business. It’s a chance to shine and showcase what your team is capable of. It also has the potential to lead to ongoing work, so you want to get it right.

The first hurdle you are faced with is the location of the project. In order to fly within 5km of an airports airspace, you need to get approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). It can take up to 30 days to hear back from CASA once you lodge your application, and even then, you don’t know that the answer will be yes. So you inform your client that due to the location, there will be a wait time of 30 days before you know if you can complete the job. On top of this, there is a fee for this process.

Just imagine what your client is thinking. They are paying you to get a job done. Now, you are telling them they have to pay a fee on top of this, just for an application to see if you can actually carry the job out or not. But really, what other option do you have? You voice this to your client – after all, you’re a drone company and this is what you know. The client agrees to proceed.

You get your team to work straight away, setting out a plan and providing all the right documents to CASA and paying the fee. Now you sit back and play the waiting game. CASA comes back to you and asks for you to amend some areas before they can proceed and approve it. Once again, you take it back to your team, make the updates and resubmit. You’re done! The document has been lodged a second time, with a second fee of top to review the amendments. The good news, it has been approved and you can get started on the original job. It took five weeks, but you got there.

Surely, there has to be a better option? While there certainly are benefits to using drones and they may seem like the best way of collecting the data necessary for the job at hand, it also risks losing impatient clients, or missing out on the job altogether if you don’t receive CASA approval. All that wasted time and effort into planning, not to mention missed opportunities in the process.

Alternative Options

Thankfully, there are alternative options available. Here at Kapcher, we understand the restrictions for operating UAV and what it brings to the table. We also have in-depth knowledge of all the processes and requirements involved. That’s why we have developed other methods and techniques when it comes to collecting data. This means we don’t solely rely on UAVs. Often, we find customers are so focused on having us use a drone, they are set in their expectations. However, by understanding the clients’ wants and needs, the way we collect the information won’t affect the end result. That is why we ensure we have a complete understanding of what the task at hand is so we can deliver decision making data to our clients.

Interested in how we can help you? Send us a private message or email brendan@kapcher.com.au and I will get in touch.