1. Industry Risk Analysis

(1) Policy Risk

The aerial work industry is currently in a period of policy adjustment, and local regulatory standards have not been unified yet. Some provinces and cities are revising the safety certification specifications for aerial work equipment. There is an implementation vacuum period before the new regulations are implemented. Entrepreneurs need to be vigilant that existing equipment may be forced to be modified due to standard upgrades. The Ministry of Housing and Urban – Rural Development is drafting a management draft for the aerial work platform rental market, which may require equipment to be installed with intelligent supervision modules compulsorily, leading to a sharp increase in technology compliance costs. Against the background of stricter environmental protection policies, some regions have piloted new emission standards for non – road mobile machinery. Diesel – powered aerial vehicles face the risk of being modified or eliminated, and the replacement cycle of new energy equipment is uncertain.

(2) Economic Risk

The current aerial work industry is facing multiple risks caused by economic cycle fluctuations: Under the downward pressure of the economy, investments in downstream fields such as infrastructure and energy may shrink. Project shutdowns or delays lead to weak demand for equipment rental. Tightening credit exacerbates the pressure on enterprises’ capital chains, and the cash flow of heavy – asset models such as equipment procurement and maintenance is under pressure. Fluctuations in raw material prices drive up production costs, while homogeneous competition in the market forces enterprises to reduce prices to maintain market share, further squeezing profit margins. If the industry fails to match technological iterations in time during the economic recovery period (such as the replacement of traditional machinery by intelligent equipment), it will face the risk of losing market share. Entrepreneurs need to maintain a dynamic balance among cash flow management, investment in differentiated technologies, and market demand prediction.

(3) Social Risk

The aerial work industry faces social risks brought about by inter – generational consumption differences: Young practitioners prefer intelligent, safe, and convenient rental services, while traditional practitioners rely more on equipment purchases, resulting in a differentiation of market demand. Young users pursue environmentally friendly materials and digital management, which conflicts with the cost – first concept of middle – aged and elderly users, intensifying the contradiction in product positioning. The strict safety standards required by Generation Z conflict with the low – quality and low – price strategies of some small and medium – sized enterprises, which may lead to a brand trust crisis. The combination of inter – generational consumption concept differences and the intensification of the aging population has brought the industry the risk of labor shortage and skill gap, forcing technological upgrading and a sharp increase in training costs.

(4) Legal Risk

The legal risks in the aerial work industry are mainly concentrated in the lack of qualifications, safety violations, and regulatory disconnection: Entrepreneurs who start business without obtaining licenses will be fined and shut down (control environment). Safety regulations change frequently. If training is not updated in time, it is easy to make mistakes, and a single accident may lead to bankruptcy (risk assessment). Once an accident occurs due to sub – standard employee protective equipment or overtime work, labor arbitration and compensation are inevitable (control activities). Failure to understand policies clearly and delays in communicating with regulatory authorities may lead to violations without even realizing it (information communication). Surprise inspections have become the norm. If scaffolds are not reinforced or safety officers lack certificates, enterprises may be sealed up and shut down immediately (monitoring and improvement).

2. Entrepreneurship Guide

(1) Suggestions on Entrepreneurship Opportunities

Regarding entrepreneurship opportunities in the aerial work industry, entrepreneurs can focus on four major directions: intelligent safety equipment (developing safety belts/working platforms integrated with IoT sensors and AI warning systems), equipment rental and sharing (building a regional intelligent dispatching platform for aerial vehicles/lifts to reduce the procurement costs of small and medium – sized enterprises), photovoltaic and wind power maintenance solutions (custom – designing aerial inspection robots suitable for new energy facilities), and urban three – dimensional space services (providing an integrated operation team for curtain wall cleaning, tree pruning, and high – altitude advertising installation). Combining with the needs of new infrastructure and urban renewal, it is advisable to prioritize vertical scenarios with low standardization and high manual risks.

(2) Suggestions on Entrepreneurship Resources

Entrepreneurs in the aerial work industry should focus on integrating core resources: Give priority to obtaining special equipment technology patents or conducting joint research and development with universities to improve product safety performance. Connect with local government safety industry support funds and construction machinery venture capital institutions to obtain start – up funds. Cooperate with equipment rental channel providers to quickly expand the market and verify the business model. Establish pilot cooperation with central construction enterprises and power maintenance units to obtain order endorsements. Integrate the resources of industry associations to participate in the formulation of safety standards to gain an advantage. Build an equipment IoT data platform to integrate the maintenance service chain and achieve value – added benefits.

(3) Suggestions on Entrepreneurship Teams

Entrepreneurs in the aerial work industry need to prioritize the establishment of a technical team with a background in mechanical manufacturing and safety engineering. They should focus on recruiting engineers with experience in the research and development of hanging baskets/lifting equipment, and be accompanied by operation personnel familiar with construction site management to ensure the precise connection between product development and market demand. The team must be equipped with full – time safety regulation researchers to systematically track the updates of national standards such as GB/T19155 and the requirements of the EU EN1808 certification. It is recommended to set up a dual – project – leader mechanism (technology + engineering) to achieve two – way feedback between the equipment R & D end and the construction scenario end through daily morning meetings. At the same time, a safety accident simulation response training system should be established, and construction scenario restoration tests should be organized monthly to strengthen the team’s actual handling ability of safety hazards.

(4) Suggestions on Entrepreneurship Risks

Entrepreneurs in the aerial work industry should prioritize the establishment of a compliance management system to ensure that construction qualifications and safety specifications comply with the latest national standards such as GB/T 3608 – 2021. Use blockchain technology to achieve real – time storage of operation logs to reduce legal risks. Adopt a light – asset model combining equipment rental and insurance. Sign framework agreements with manufacturers such as XCMG and Zoomlion that include insurance, and require aerial platforms to complete sensor self – inspections and upload the data to the cloud before daily operations. Build a hierarchical safety training system, incorporate VR accident simulations into workers’ quarterly assessments, and implement a dual – protection mechanism of “double – person mutual inspection + intelligent wearable devices”. At the same time, preset a 20% emergency reserve fund through a dynamic cash – flow model to deal with the risk of project payment periods, and use big data to match regional labor peaks and valleys to achieve cross – project labor scheduling.