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. its been going pretty well but im still at my day job and honestly just kind of tired of it. been thinking about pulling the trigger and going freelance full time but every time i get close to committing i get scared off by how inconsistent the work feels.

last month was great, had like 5 jobs and made more than my weekly salary. month before that was basically dead. i know seasonality is a thing but i dont really know how to plan around it. does anyone here actually do this as their main income? how long did it take before it felt stable? and is there a type of work that tends to be more consistent - like should i be pushing harder into inspections or mapping instead of media stuff?

yeah i made the jump about three years ago and honestly the first year was rough. not gonna sugarcoat it. but the real estate thing is tough because it ebbs and flows with the housing market and thats just kind of out of your control. what changed things for me was landing one decent construction client who needed regular site documentation - like every two weeks - and that basically became my anchor. once you have one or two of those recurring clients the feast/famine thing gets way more manageable.

inspections are worth learning if you can get the certs and find the right clients, cell towers and rooftops can pay really well but you need to already know somebody or spend a lot of time knocking on doors. mapping and surveying is a whole other world - need different gear and software skills but the contracts tend to be bigger. i'd say dont abandon the media work, just stop relying on it alone.

im kind of in the same boat as you so not sure i have great advice lol but one thing someone told me that stuck - start treating it like a business before you quit the job, like actually set up the LLC, get the insurance sorted, build a proper client list. that way when you do go full time youre not starting from zero on the admin stuff while also panicking about money. good luck though, sounds like you already have a decent foundation