I think of it from a moral overview.
What is is the operational difference between a private operation and a commercial one?
A private operation has a lower standard of licence, and they fly with little oversight, basically on their own recognisance.
A commercial operation has has a higher standard of licence, and the pilot flies with the “big brother” overview of the AOC holder as a double check on operational safety.
The passengers with a private operation have some personal knowledge of the pilot (friend, family, colleague) and understand that they are partaking in “an activity” (like a sport, four wheel driving etc) and are thus also personally undertaking that level of risk.
The passengers in a commercial operation are paying (or their employers are paying), and thus expect the lower risk provided by the oversight given in a commercial operation. That’s why miners on a fly in fly out contract aren’t partaking (or wouldn’t want to) in a private operation, they don’t know the pilot, they expect the employer who required them to fly regularly to provide commercial flight safety.
It’s the difference between me, being on holiday in Dubai, and paying for a Sand dune four wheel drive experience, and me going out bush bashing with my mate Billy in his four wheel drive.
So, for the OP: what category do you think your passengers will be in? Required by their boss to get on the aircraft, or doing so with some knowledge of you and the standards of the flight?