so ive been flying for about 3 years now, got my part 107 last year and ive been doing small jobs on the side mostly real estate shoots for a local agency and a couple of construction progress things through a guy i know. its been going okay honestly better than i expected but im at this point where i keep thinking like... could i actually do this full time.

my day job is fine, nothing special, pays the bills. but i spend way more mental energy thinking about drone stuff than anything i do at work. i just dont know if the market is there enough to sustain it or if im romanticizing it. the real estate stuff is okay money but its kind of feast or famine depending on the housing market which right now is just weird.

has anyone here actually made the jump? like fully quit their job and gone into this. i guess im wondering what work actually pays consistently vs what sounds good in theory. ive heard inspection work is where the real money is but i have zero experience in that area and not sure how you even break in

yeah i did it about two years ago and honestly the first six months were genuinely stressful in a way i wasnt prepared for. not because there wasnt work, there was, but because its just so different from having a paycheck show up automatically. you have to be okay with invoicing someone and then waiting 30, sometimes 45 days to actually see the money. that messed with my head more than i expected.

real estate is fine as a baseline but you're right that its inconsistent. what stabilized things for me was getting into video production more broadly ? like not just drone footage but being the person who delivers the whole edited package. clients pay more and they come back more. inspection work i've dabbled in, the rates are better but you really need to know what you're looking at otherwise you're just flying around taking pictures that mean nothing to anyone. i did an online course for roof and solar inspections which helped me at least talk the talk but i'd say don't quit the day job until you have 3 months of expenses saved and at least 2 or 3 clients who book you regularly, not just once

not there yet myself but following this thread because im in almost the exact same situation lol. the inspection thing keeps coming up whenever i look into this, seems like utilities and cell towers and stuff like that is where pilots are actually making real hourly rates. but yeah no idea how you get that first contract without experience and no idea how you get experience without contracts, classic problem