Business plan for establishing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV/Drones) services enterprise in Cyprus.

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or “drones” have been receiving a lot of attention as an emerging and high potential industry. Even though drones were mostly used for defence purposes there seems to be a clear indication that the development of small and cost effective drones has led to a range of applications that socioeconomic factors are starting to employ to reduce risk, optimize processes and production lines and create new chains of customer and societal value. However, according to market research it is difficult to anticipate and measure the full range and financial impact of commercial drone related product and services. This thesis attempts to respond to the question whether establishing a UAV services provision business in Nicosia, Cyprus meeting the demands of the local and regional market for aerial data is profitable and sustainable. To answer this challenging questions and before establishing a hypothesis, a thorough literature review of the business planning process in worldwide literate as a method is performed to obtain a better understanding on its strengths and limitations. Then, the current state and prospects of the drone industry is presented, and the regional market in Cyprus is analysed and segmented gathering data from existing market reports, journals as well as limited semi-structured interviews of stakeholders. Finally, a financial plan is prepared to substantiate the hypothesis that indeed establishing a UAV services business in Cyprus, addressing the needs of a wide range of professionals, can be profitable and have promising prospects for future growth as technology matures and societal acceptance grows.