so ive been doing drone work on the side for about two years now, mostly real estate and some construction progress shots for a local contractor. i have my part 107 and a decent kit, mavic 3 pro plus a inspire 2 i use for the bigger commercial stuff. the side income has been pretty consistent lately, like im turning down work because i just dont have the time with my regular job.

the thing is im not sure if thats actually enough to go full time or if im just in a lucky streak. my day job pays well and has benefits and i have a mortgage so the stakes feel real. has anyone here actually made the jump and how long did it take before you felt like you werent just bleeding out savings every slow month? also curious if anyone diversified beyond real estate - i keep hearing infrastructure and utilities are where the real money is but i genuinely dont know anyone doing that work

made the jump about three years ago and honestly the first six months were rough, not gonna sugarcoat it. real estate kept the lights on but the margins are not great because everyone and their cousin has a phantom and undercuts on price. what changed things for me was getting into cell tower inspections - it took forever to get my foot in the door but once one company started using me regularly it basically became a retainer situation. the key thing nobody tells you is that the drone skills are almost secondary, its the business stuff, invoicing, contracts, liability insurance, following up on leads, thats what actually determines if you survive.

utilities and infrastructure is real, the money is significantly better but you usually need specific certifications or at least a demonstrated portfolio and sometimes they want you to carry serious insurance minimums like 2 million liability. worth it though if you can get there.

not full time yet but watching this thread closely because im in almost the exact same spot lol. one thing i did recently was reach out to a couple of land surveying firms in my area just cold emails basically and two of them actually wrote back. apparently theres a decent amount of work in photogrammetry for land surveys and they dont always want to hire someone in house. might be worth exploring if you havent already