It's funny how all the markets that came to mind when I first started out were ultimately all the wrong markets. And all the markets I ended up flourishing in I wouldn't have thought to explore on my own.
Right off the bat it became painfully obvious that residential real estate was a bust. Clients would balk at a $100 invoice. Plus, you have to deal with Real Estate agents, who are generally either difficult to communicate with or collect money from. So that market was pretty quickly dismissed.
Next, I got into full aerial video production for commercial real estate, which was better, but still fell short the mark. While those invoices were okay in $1200-$1500 range, they were a lot of work. Commercial real estate agents were a completely different animal then their residential counterparts. Good with communication. Quick to pay. No hassle. The completely opposite of residential. I won't be specific, but commercial tended to be one gender and residential was the other gender. I'll just leave it at that.
Next, I explored the film industry. I did that for 2 years. While the invoices were good ($4500-$6K/day) and the work was rewarding, the days were LONG and hard, often 10-12 hour days. Flying a drone is fun for about 4 hours tops. It becomes work after that. After 8 hours I was ready to kill myself. I had a business partner who I split the profits with (I was cam OP, he was PIC), and we paid a third guy $500/day to manage batteries. In lieu of a DIT, I managed data. So it wasn't uncommon for us to walk away from those gigs with $2K/day in our pocket. After a while the industry moved away from compressed video and more toward RAW, which was going to require a substantial equipment investment. After running the pros and cons, we decided to back away from film. It was a joint, unanimous decision. If you enjoy chaos and set politics, that industry is for you. My partner and I are both conservative, so it's probably good that we got out when we did.
Eventually, the markets that became profitable for me were mapping (both photogrammetry and LiDAR) and traffic analysis...with a minor in evidence collection. The lion's share of my revenue stream is from mapping, which also requires the greatest investment for LiDAR (close to 6 figures). Plus, you get to deal with engineers. I like engineers.
Next would be traffic analysis, which can be done with a P4P. And then way down the list in third is evidence collection, which can be done with any drone. I tend to use my Mavic Pro for that. A spin-off market from aerial traffic analysis is ground traffic analysis, which has nothing to do with drones, so I won't talk about it here. But it is something I still enjoy doing. And, again, you deal with engineers.
My advice would be to learn all you can about aerial mapping and then connect with survey companies in your area. And I would also look at traffic engineering firms in your area for aerial traffic analysis. Don't ask me how, as I pretty much lucked into those markets. I got into the drone business early with a website and that was all it took. My foot's in the door. It's now word of mouth.
The latter market (aerial traffic) may be a bespoke market. My clients seem to find the aerial traffic footage useful enough that they keep hiring me back. But honestly, this is a bespoke market that I haven't really heard of any other drone pilots doing.
I almost forgot construction progress videos. The income isn't great, but the work is quick and the income is residual. Any given construction project provides $600-$800/month for usually 18 months or so. I'm usually in and out of there in 30 minutes, with roughly 30 more minutes of video editing at home. If I really counted every second I spend prepping for these jobs, filling out invoices, etc., MAYBE 2 hours/shoot. But that would be a real stretch. I usually have 2 clients/month who require footage every other week. So I stagger the jobs so I'm shooting every week. I require a 3-day window for deliverables. So far, after 6 years, my construction clients are very happy. My rates will be going up substantially for their next projects....mostly just keeping up with post-2020 inflation.
Here's an example video they had me produce for a conference:
A market that looks good, but not really in my area, might be crop dusting. You can now compete with full scale aviation, but with substantial investment. So, depending on your area, that's another market I would explore.
The good news is that photogrammetry and traffic analysis can be done with a P4P. So those are the markets I would seek out first. Those invoices are rarely under 4 figures.
Good luck.
D
