From solo to supported: aerial photography business soars

SPOKANE, Wash.—Andrew Thompson had been self-employed as an aerial photographer and videographer for about a year when a more established competitor called to say he wanted to sell his business. Was Thompson interested in buying?

The primary business assets were the company name and the client list. Thompson wasn’t sure what to think, but his family and friends were skeptical. “You’re going to pay how much,” they asked, “for nothing?”

But then he checked in with Horacio Garcia, a business advisor with the Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC), who said, wait a minute, that’s not nothing. Let’s look at the numbers.

Garcia and Thompson had started working together in 2024 when Garcia was with the Women’s Business Center in Spokane and Thompson was participating in Washington’s Self-Employment Assistance Program (SEAP). When Garcia joined the SBDC in February 2025, Thompson became an SBDC client and they continued to work together.

The Washington SBDC is a network of more than 40 business advisors and two international trade advisors who provide no-cost, confidential, technical assistance to entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to start, grow or buy/sell a business. The Washington SBDC is hosted by Washington State University and its lead center is in Spokane, where Garcia is one of three SBDC advisors. In addition, there are SBDC advisors located in more than two dozen communities across the state, from Pullman to Poulsbo and Bellingham to Goldendale.

After looking at the financials, Garcia told Thompson that the company name and client list did indeed have value and that the selling price seemed fair. The place to negotiate, he suggested, was on the terms.

“He was the only person saying this was a fair valuation,” Thompson said. “It wasn’t the feedback I was getting from anyone else, but it turned out to be really good feedback.”

 The deal to purchase Grand Showing, a real estate photography service, closed on Aug. 1 and Thompson has been scrambling ever since. Between running his first business, River City Aerials & Film, and keeping up with Grand Showing, Thompson is working 50 to 60 hours a week.

“It’s not sustainable,” Thompson said and laughed, but it’s a great place to be for someone who thought it would take years to build a comparable customer base. Fortunately, Garcia is still only a phone call away. Since outdoor photography and real estate videos are seasonal, he’s looking forward to having time this winter to review and streamline his business systems.

“This whole self-employed business owner is all new to me,” Thompson said, but he feels extremely fortunate that he has had Garcia to turn to for assistance.

“Having a year of mentorship and guidance from Horacio gave me the confidence to move forward,” he said. If this opportunity had come up a year earlier, he said, he never would have done it.

Thompson majored in media production at Florida State University and got a job creating movie trailers in Los Angeles after graduation. Unfortunately, an accident forced him to move back to Florida. Over the next nine years he had a series of corporate jobs as he and his wife moved to Seattle and then to Spokane.

When his job as an insurance adjuster ended in April 2024, he decided it was time for a change. “None of those jobs were my passion,” he said. Instead of looking for another corporate job, he enrolled in SEAP and began working with Garcia and Nicole Hansen at the Women’s Business Center. Both Hansen and Garcia encouraged him to apply for a grant from the Spokane Workforce Council, which enabled him to upgrade his video equipment. Garcia also encouraged him to work with Mark Pond, the business research librarian at the Spokane Public Library.

“He was a huge help,” Thompson said. Pond’s assistance was critical to helping him refine his market niche.

Since he is his family’s primary earner, it was a stressful time. “It was easy to get overwhelmed,” he said. “I’m glad I had someone to talk things through with.”

Fortunately, Garcia was able to speak from experience. As a seasoned chief executive officer, chief marketing officer and business owner, Garcia has more than 25 years’ experience leading high-performing teams, managing multimillion-dollar budgets, and developing strategies to drive significant business growth.

“I am a servant, passionately in love with serving businesses,” said Garcia, who is a native of Nicaragua. “When entrepreneurs have the same passion to be a business owner that I have to assist them, that is a perfect match.” And, he said, Thompson was a perfect match.

Prior to joining the Washington SBDC, Garcia owned his own business consulting firm for nearly six years. In addition to assisting entrepreneurs at the Women’s Business Center, he also worked with SNAP Financial Access in Spokane. He also helps business owners through the SCORE program, where he has been a volunteer for more than six years.  

The Washington SBDC is hosted by Washington State University and its lead center is in Spokane, and receives about half its funding from the federal government. By law, at least half of all SBDC funding must come from non-federal sources. The Washington SBDC currently has funding agreements with more than two dozen different entities, including institutions of higher education, economic development councils, municipalities and civic and business groups.

For more information about River City Aerials & Film, go to https://www.spokaneaerials.com/.

For more information about the Washington SBDC, go to https://wsbdc.org/.