been working a desk job for 6 years and honestly im just done with it. drone work has been a side thing for the past two years and ive been averaging maybe $1200-1500 a month on top of my salary which felt great but now im wondering if it could actually replace my income if i went all in. i do a mix of real estate, some agriculture mapping work which i got into almost by accident after a farmer saw me flying near his property and asked what i was doing, and occasional event stuff.

the ag mapping side feels like it has potential but its also pretty seasonal where i live so thats a concern. im not looking for someone to just tell me to go for it or whatever, im genuinely trying to figure out if people have made this work sustainably and what the first year actually looked like financially. my partner is supportive but obviously we have bills and im not trying to blow up our financial situation over a dream that doesnt pan out

the agriculture side is real and it's probably slept on compared to real estate content. i know a guy who basically built his whole business around field health mapping and crop analysis, uses a multispectral setup and charges a lot more per acre than you'd expect. the seasonal thing is a real issue though and he basically stacks work hard in spring and fall and does construction documentation in the winter to fill the gap. you almost have to plan it like a seasonal business from the start rather than expecting it to be steady year round

first year is rough for most people, just being honest. not trying to discourage you but the clients you have now might not all stick around when you raise prices to make it viable full time, and finding new ones takes longer than you think. having 3-4 months of expenses saved before making the jump is kind of the minimum id say

cant speak to the ag side specifically but i went freelance about 18 months ago doing mostly video production with drone as part of my kit, not exclusively drones. that hybrid approach honestly saved me because theres so much downtime when you specialize too narrowly. the clients who hire me for drone stuff also end up wanting edited video which means more hours and more invoice. something to maybe think about if you have any editing skills already