so ive been flying for about 3 years now, got my part 107 last year, and honestly ive been doing more and more paid shoots on the side — real estate mostly, a few construction site progress things, one wedding (never again lol). my day job is fine but its just... fine. and i keep thinking about whether its actually realistic to drop it and do drone work full time.

i know the classic answer is "build up clients first" and yeah im doing that but i guess what i really want to know is like, what does a realistic month actually look like for people doing this? not the best month ever, the average boring month. because i feel like everyone i see online is either crushing it or complaining its impossible and theres not much in between.

im in a mid-size city, not a huge market but theres definitely demand. anybody been through this decision and want to share how it actually went?

went full time about two years ago and honestly the first 6 months were rougher than i expected even with clients lined up. the irregular income thing is real and kind of messes with your head even if youre technically making enough. what saved me was landing a retainer with a property management company that needed monthly aerial inspections — not glamorous work but knowing that check was coming every month made everything else way less stressful.

real estate is fine but its feast or famine depending on the housing market and you probably already know that. i've been pushing harder into the construction and infrastructure side because the budgets are better and they actually need you on a schedule. if your city has any kind of commercial development happening thats where id focus. also get comfortable with deliverables that arent just pretty footage — orthomosaic maps, progress reports, that kind of thing. it opens a lot more doors.

not full time yet but my brother in law did it and the thing he always says is that the drone part is like 30% of the job. the rest is invoicing, chasing clients, marketing yourself, all that stuff that nobody talks about. just something to think about if you havent already, because some people love the hustle side and some people really dont