We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chad Bailey. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chad below.
Chad, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
It began in the summer of 2024, when I was cruising the skies with a mini drone in my local neighborhood on a hot summer day. I have always enjoyed creating aerial videos and seeing the views from up high, as it provides a different of perspective of your location and surroundings. I would always think to myself how cool it would be to fly drones for a living.
The idea to start SkyRaptor came from a moment of inspiration during that flight when I asked myself one question; how could I help people with my drone? When you switch your mindset to thinking about how you can solve real life problems or help produce results for other people or businesses with your skills, your gears really get to turning.
From that moment forth, I started building SkyRaptor from the ground up. From humble beginnings performing work for free to demonstrate my skills and build a portfolio, to now supporting clients in various industries to include $680 million dollar construction projects; this journey has been an absolute blast! I wake up each day with the thought that I have a purpose to do something I love while helping others achieve their goals.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I was born and raised in Newport News, Virginia and have lived in the Hampton Roads area for my entire live. I have done a lot of traveling, but this area is what I call my home. I am married and the father of my two year old son, Asa. He is the light of our lives. Part of the reason I chase the dream of being a business owner is to one day show him that you can achieve anything you set your mind to, if you take a calculated risk on yourself.
Prior to starting the business, I worked the last twenty years in various fields to include: construction, maritime, science, commercial nuclear, and healthcare. I have my MBA and Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Saint Leo University and I am a graduate of Newport News Shipbuildings Apprentice School in the maintenance electrical field. I committed the last decade of my career to Workplace Environmental, Health, & Safety leadership roles. I am a Certified Safety Professional (CSP) and an Authorized OSHA Outreach Instructor in General Industry and Construction. Safe flight operations is a core pillar of SkyRaptor’s business model.
SkyRaptor specializes in aerial services for construction, real estate, & business marketing. We help local businesses highlight their capabilities through marketing content development and help construction companies monitor progress, map, survey, & inspect their project sites.
One of the things I am most proud of recently was a project I completed at Newport News – Williamsburg Virginia Airport. A glass installer company reached out to me to capture footage of the airport where they had recently replaced most of the glass at the main terminal. One thing you need to know if you plan to fly a drone or currently do, is that there is restricted airspace in many areas of the world and likely, your local area. You need to understand how to identify if you are in restricted airspace and obtain any appropriate approvals before takeoff.
With that being said, getting approval to fly in restricted airspace at an airport is one of the most challenging approvals to get. The project took nearly a total of 6o days to get approvals and coordinate this effort before I ever put the drone in the air. On the day of flight, I worked directly with the leadership of the airport to safely conduct the flight in accordance with the FAA’s Certificate of Authorization (COA) I had obtained. Everything went well and the end result relative to the photos and videos I captured made my client very happy. All around, it was a very difficult and rewarding experience that I reflect on often. The staff at the airport were great to work with.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
The initial capital to fund my business came directly from my own pocket. I have been part of the work force for over twenty years and when I starting thinking about starting a business, I focused my efforts to reducing my cost of living and leveraging the additional funds into saving for startup cost. Fortunately, starting and running a small drone business didn’t require a lot of startup capital or ongoing overhead expenses, at first. The biggest step was just getting started and taking on each challenge as it presented itself. As my dad always says to me, “ain’t nothing to it, but to do it”!
My advice to anyone trying to start a business or make a significant change in your life that involves personal or financial risk is to audit your finances and your life. Short term sacrifice equals long term success. List out all of your expenses and know exactly how much it will take each month to sustain your current lifestyle. Evaluate what expenses you can live without and cut them. You want to ultimately reduce any unnecessary spending and start to plan how you will sustain your new lifestyle. Audit your behaviors and really ask yourself what more can I be doing to take steps towards my goals each day. Mindset is an important facet of success.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
My advice for managing a team and maintaining high morale is to model the way by setting the example everyday. Leaders should always embody the expectations they have for others on the team. You also want to paint a clear picture of what your goals are and what a successful end result looks like. This way, when you hit bumps in the road, you can still point to how these challenges are part of the journey in achieving what you all have set out to do.
I have so many things that come to mind when it comes to advice for managing a team, but if I cold pick one more, I would say that it is very important to create an environment where everyone feels empowered to voice their concerns and opinions. Each individual contributes to the team and may have an idea that no one else has thought about or they recognize a risk that jeopardizes the health & safety of the team or client. I think active listening is a strong leadership quality. Respect your team and provide them with an atmosphere where their voices and ideas are welcome.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.skyraptordrones.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skyraptordrones/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/SkyRaptor-LLC-61561471210788/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgxYDQW2LzRgM5loWJA0Vig
Image Credits
SkyRaptor