Why the DJI Ban is a Million Dollar Opportunity | Ft. James Fernandez

All right, welcome to another drone

cast. We have a special guest, James

Fernandez, who is uh one of Sky

Network's Milliondoll Dronereneurs. So,

he's a drone commander. He's earned the

that prestigious title of building a

million-dollar drone business. And uh

James, I want to thank you for stopping

by. I know you're super busy um with I

know people are saying that oh you know

the drone business is slowing down and

it's there's not money to make but

[laughter] I think the opposite's going

on from you and uh and so what what I'd

like to do is have you just uh first of

all kind of tell everyone a little bit

about yourself and then also how this

drone band or as it's commonly referred

to the DJI band even though it's got you

know it's not just DJI it's it's every

foreign drone but how has that affected

you financially, your business, and

what's the outlook coming forward. Um,

so that's what we'll we'll get into. All

right, [laughter] so take it away,

James.

All right. Well, Damon, thank you for

having me here. It's always good to see

you. Uh, even though it's, you know,

virtually through the screen here, but

uh, best thing, right? You know.

Yeah. Yeah. It's amazing how technology

has allowed us to kind of unite

ourselves, you know.

Yeah. But uh but yeah, I mean, as you

know, I've been a member of Sky Network

since late 2017.

And um

You're OG, brother.

I'm OG. [laughter]

[gasps]

I love it. And uh yeah, listen, Sky

Network, you know, has been instrumental

to the growth of my business, not just

because of, you know, everything you

guys do, but uh uh mindset as well. And

I think that has been crucial for what's

going on now with um this whole, you

know, drone DJI band thing that's going

on. And uh I've been pretty pause you

there for a second because that brings

up a good point. I think that, you know,

there's a lot of people out there that

are just there. I mean, they're not

going to admit it. No one says, "Oh, I

need I need mindset or I need confidence

or I need I need that, right? Especially

guys. We're we're too ego proud to say

that." But I think there's a lot to say

for having a network because of

successful drone entrepreneurs is that

you've got you got people where you can

see the real world results even when you

have fear or doubt or or you get sucked

into, you know, all the drama and the

negative news that's out there and and

the clickbait stuff and everything

that's there. The crab's in the bucket

cuz they'll they'll they'll just pull

you down if you let them. But if you

have other people around you that are ex

result, oh well I'm busier than ever.

I've got this new deal I've got. And

you're like, "Huh, maybe it's me." You

know, maybe I need to change what I'm

focusing on. And that's

what you're doing. Exactly. I mean, you

know, we've got people like Eddie and

Chris and Mark and James and Kevin and

and well, and James James, too. You you

know, that that are actually getting

real world results and getting busier.

So, I just wanted to when you mentioned

that, I just wanted to point that out

that that if you're alone or you're by

yourself, then that can create some

issues.

Yeah. No doubt. No doubt. And that's one

of the things I've learned over the

years being in the network um and and

dealing with Gina and yourself is, you

know, don't let don't go don't get into

that five that 10 finger spread, you

know, as Gina calls it, you know, and uh

you learn how to manage that scary

thought process that's going through

your head by leaning on some of the

members that are going through it. And

uh and you see quickly learn that, you

know, it's not as bad as people are

making it out to be. And this is a

perfect case for that uh for that

scenario, right?

Yeah. Yeah. I think it totally is. So,

um you have some real world, you know, I

guess uh stories to share, right, of

stuff.

Yeah.

Recently, I'd love to I'd love for you

to share that with everybody. Um and you

know, kind of what's going on. Well, and

first before you do that, like what's

your what's your overview on this this

whole drone ban and as far as it affects

your business and and moving forward?

No, I think we're going to capitalize in

it and and just explode. It's going to

be another growth spurt for us. Um just

because, you know, there are people

freaking out and case in point, the

story I'm about to get into just

happened this morning. Um where there's

people bailing from the business because

they're freaking out, you know, and

they're misinformed. So, there's a lot

of misinformation being spread out

there. And I wasn't really going to get

into it. I wasn't going to talk much

about it on my social media platforms.

uh but I think it's time we start

educating the consumer as to what is

actually going on so that you know

business continues to roll and grow and

and in the short term well before we get

into it. So that's that's my thought

process on that. Right. Um

and when you said that you a customer

freak or some someone pulling out of it,

are you talking about a drone service

provider, right? A drone company that is

they're they're basically going to stop

providing drone services. Go ahead.

Correct. Yeah. A real estate

photographer. Um, so just to get into

the story, I had a an old client call me

this morning uh freaking out because

their new vendor uh announce this

morning that they were no longer going

to be providing drone services in their

real estate media packages. Um, because

all drones have been banned as of

December 23rd. Drones are illegal. So

obviously that that set this client

who's, you know, got a big team or in a

tail spin and he decided to reach out to

me to see what what was going on.

And uh so I educated him a little bit

and um told him don't worry, it's

business as usual. Uh there are people

freaking out cuz they're misinformed.

And

at the end of the day, that that this

drone ban, you know, you want to call

it, whatever whatever you want to call

it at this point, um really has no

effect for any of us. It's it's it's

just we continue. The drones we

currently have aren't going to be shut

down. They're not geoenced or they won't

turn on. They're not illegal to fly. Uh

it's just it's just it's another day in

the office, another day cranking out

work and and capturing beautiful images

for our clients. long-term, are there

going to be some effects? Sure, I'm sure

there are, but you have plenty of time

to get ready for any of those long-term

effects that may uh that may pop up. And

they may not. At some point, somebody's

got to have a some rational thought and

say, "Wait a second, we may be uh

screwing ourselves over by doing this."

Uh, and it may change back to the way it

was. And if not, there's plenty of

options out there to keep your business

up and running. Yeah. Yeah. And what do

you see? So, I'm going to give you my

ki