Setting up a drone service business in North Dakota

Certificate first, because the business cannot hold it

Start the Part 107 certificate before any filing, because the longest lead time is the test and the TSA check, and nothing else on this list can substitute for it.

The certificate attaches to you, not to a company you might form. The FAA requires the person manipulating the flight controls to hold a remote pilot certificate, or to fly under the direct supervision of a certificated remote pilot in command.

Run the business setup inside the waiting time the certificate creates. The certification guide covers the test and application, and the pilot-and-company page explains what a company can and cannot hold in this trade.

14 CFR 107.12Under 14 CFR 107.12, no person may manipulate the flight controls of a small unmanned aircraft system unless that person holds a remote pilot certificate. — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, retrieved 2026-09-29

Choose the structure before you file anything

Decide sole proprietorship or LLC before the first contract, because the name on the invoice follows the decision.

A sole proprietor who works under a personal name registers nothing with the Secretary of State. North Dakota law requires business registration prior to transacting business unless you are doing business solely using your personal name.

An LLC is a filing that creates a separate company, and North Dakota describes it as a hybrid, with the liability protection of a corporation and the pass-through taxation of a partnership. For a drone pilot, the company holds the contracts and the debts while you keep the certificate. The structure comparison walks the decision with the fees on the table.

State law requires businesses to register with the North Dakota Secretary of State prior to transacting business unless doing business solely using a personal name. — North Dakota Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

North Dakota describes an LLC as a hybrid, offering the liability protection of a corporation with the pass-through taxation of a partnership. — North Dakota Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Filing the Articles of Organization

Form the LLC by filing Articles of Organization with the North Dakota Secretary of State. The fee is $135, and the name must contain "limited liability company" or the abbreviation "LLC" or "L.L.C.".

Filing runs through the FirstStop Portal, the state's online system. The chapter that governs LLCs is NDCC ch. 10-32.1, and there is no test or exam to form one.

Two design choices sit inside the filing. The name rule constrains the brand, and a separate trade name registration, $25, is available if you want to fly under something other than the LLC's registered name. If you would rather pay a service to do the typing, the formation services page lists what each one publishes about its own prices.

$135A North Dakota business LLC is created by filing articles of organization at $135, and the name must contain limited liability company or an abbreviation such as LLC. — North Dakota Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

NDCC ch. 10-32.1North Dakota Century Code chapter 10-32.1 pertains to limited liability companies. — North Dakota Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

The registered agent rule in North Dakota

Every North Dakota LLC must maintain a registered agent with a physical address in the state. This is not optional and not a formality.

Notices from the Secretary of State, including annual report reminders and not-good-standing warnings, go to that address, as does service of process. The agent can be an individual residing in North Dakota or a company registered with the Secretary of State with a business office in the state.

You can list yourself if you have a North Dakota street address. What you cannot do is use an out-of-state address or a post office box for the registered agent office. If your agent resigns, you must appoint a new one promptly, or the Secretary of State may move the business toward dissolution. Changing the agent later costs $10.

North Dakota LLCs must maintain a registered agent with a physical address in the state, and notices and service of process go to that address. — North Dakota Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

$10A registered agent change in North Dakota costs $10, and a business that does not appoint a new agent after a resignation may be placed in Not Good Standing or involuntarily dissolved. — North Dakota Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Getting the EIN and the bank account

Get an Employer Identification Number from the IRS once the LLC exists. It is free, the online application issues the number immediately, and the IRS warns you never have to pay a fee for one.

Ignore any site that charges for an EIN. The number goes on the W-9 a client asks for, so payments report to the company rather than to you personally.

Then open a business bank account in the LLC's name. Route every flight invoice into it and keep personal spending out of it. The liability wall the $135 filing builds is only as strong as the separation you keep in practice, and a shared account is the easiest wall to breach.

$0The IRS states you can get an EIN directly from the IRS in minutes for free, never have to pay a fee for an EIN, and should beware of websites that charge for one. — Internal Revenue Service, retrieved 2026-09-29

Cover and contracts before the first paid flight

Two items block most first jobs: insurance the client will accept, and an airspace story for controlled airspace.

Many commercial contracts call for $1M in liability coverage, in the experience of one drone insurance specialist, and its carriers will not quote an operator without a Part 107 license. Get the quote before you sign the contract, not after. The insurance page separates liability from hull cover and lists what on-demand policies do.

In Class B, C or D airspace, or within the lateral boundaries of a Class E surface area, a Part 107 flight needs prior authorization from air traffic control. LAANC handles most of it in near-real time through FAA-approved service suppliers. The preflight checklist folds the authorization into the flight-day routine.

$1MOne drone insurer states many commercial operators choose $1M in liability coverage because it is a common contract requirement, and its carriers will not quote operators without a Part 107 license. — BWI drone insurance page, retrieved 2026-09-29

14 CFR 107.41Under 14 CFR 107.41, a small unmanned aircraft may not operate in Class B, C or D airspace, or a Class E airport surface area, without prior authorization from air traffic control. — Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, retrieved 2026-09-29

The yearly calendar, North Dakota edition

Once the business exists, it owes the state one filing a year and owes the FAA one course every two. Write both down now.

The LLC annual report is due November 15, at $50, filed through the FirstStop Portal. Miss it and the business lands in Not Good Standing, which lenders, investors and vendors check, and the Secretary of State will typically terminate a business that leaves the report unpaid for 6 to 12 months after that.

The recurrent training runs on its own 24-month clock, free, online. A sole proprietor has only the FAA date to track. Whichever structure you chose, the currency guide covers the training half and the cost breakdown prices the whole first year.

November 15A North Dakota LLC's annual report is due November 15 at $50, and a business that fails to file is placed in Not Good Standing, with involuntary termination typically following. — North Dakota Secretary of State, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions