so ive been flying commercially part time for about two years now, mostly real estate stuff and the occasional construction progress shoot, and im seriously considering making the jump to doing it full time. currently i work a 9-5 that honestly has nothing to do with drones and im just tired of squeezing shoots into weekends and evenings.

the thing is i genuinely dont know if the market is there. like i know people say there's tons of work but every time i look at what clients are actually willing to pay it seems like rates have dropped a lot compared to even a few years ago. i have my part 107 and a decent portfolio, mostly mavic 3 work with some stuff on the inspire 2 i rent occasionally. just wondering if anyone here actually transitioned to freelance full time and whether it was worth it or if i should just keep it as a side thing.

I made the jump about three years ago and honestly it took almost a full year before I felt financially stable doing it. The real estate work is fine for volume but the margins are pretty thin if you're competing with people who bought a mini and are charging $150 a shoot. Where I actually started making real money was getting into infrastructure inspection work - cell towers, bridges, that kind of thing. Requires some extra training and your clients are usually companies with actual budgets rather than individual realtors who want to haggle over every deliverable.

If you're serious about it I'd say start building relationships with construction firms and engineering companies before you quit your job. That pipeline takes time to develop and you don't want to be scrambling for real estate gigs to pay rent while you're trying to get those bigger contracts off the ground.

following this thread because im in almost the exact same situation lol. part 107 for about 8 months, doing weddings and some aerial photography on the side. curious what people think about the inspection route because ive heard it mentioned a lot but i dont really know how you even get started there or what certifications actually matter to clients