How to get more customers as an artisan in Nigeria, and how to price your work fairly

Most Nigerian workers are their own boss. The NBS found that 85.6% of employed Nigerians were self-employed in Q2 2024. For a plumber, tiler, electrician, tailor or cleaner, that means one thing: your income depends on how many customers find you, trust you and pay you on time.

This guide covers all three, with naira examples you can copy.

How should an artisan price a job in Nigeria?

Many artisans price by feel, or by what the last person charged. That is how you end up working a full day and going home with nothing after transport. Use a simple method instead: cost plus time worked.

What goes into a fair price?

Transport matters more than people think. In a survey of its technician community, OPL Academy found about 98% of the technicians who answered said transport was a factor in how they price.

Worked example: pricing a bathroom plumbing repair

Say you are a plumber in Uyo. A customer wants a leaking shower mixer replaced and a blocked basin drain cleared.

1. Choose your day rate. Published labour rates for plumbers in 2026 range from ₦10,000 to ₦22,000 a day, according to cost guides collected by Profolio.ng. Say you set ₦16,000 for an 8-hour day. That is ₦2,000 an hour.
2. Estimate your time. About 5 hours, including buying parts. Labour: 5 x ₦2,000 = ₦10,000.
3. Add materials. Shower mixer ₦28,000, fittings and tape ₦4,500. Total ₦32,500.
4. Add transport. ₦3,000 there and back, plus ₦1,000 to pick up parts. Total ₦4,000.
5. Add tool wear. ₦1,000.
6. Add a buffer. 10% of labour, ₦1,000.

The customer sees that ₦32,500 of this is the mixer and fittings, which they could check in the market. Your share is clear and fair. That makes it easier for them to say yes.

What is the difference between turnover and income?

A big quote is not big pay. One cost guide quoted by Profolio.ng puts a three-bedroom house plumbing job, materials included, at ₦350,000 to ₦700,000, but only about ₦120,000 to ₦250,000 of that is labour. Always know which part of your quote is yours.

How often should I raise my prices?

The NBS put headline inflation at 14.63% in September 2026, down from 15.39% in August, and food inflation at 19.59%. Your costs of living, transport and materials keep rising even when inflation slows. Review your day rate at least every three months. Price materials fresh for every quote, never from memory.

How do I get more customers as an artisan?

Many customers still find artisans through someone they know. Word of mouth is powerful but slow. The steps below help it spread further.

1. Turn photos of past work into your CV

In the informal economy, nobody can check your certificate, but anyone can look at your work.

• Take a before photo, a during photo and an after photo of every job.
• Shoot in daylight, from the same angle each time, with the area clean.
• Keep a folder per type of work: tiling, bathrooms, wiring, ceilings.
• Never show a customer's face, house number or anything private without asking.

Ten clear before and after pairs will win more work than any speech.

2. Set up WhatsApp Business properly

The WhatsApp Business app lets you show a business profile with your information in one place, set a greeting message for people who message you first, set an away message for when you are busy, and show your services with prices in a catalogue.

Set it up like this:

1. Install WhatsApp Business on the phone number you give customers.
2. Business name: your name and trade, for example "Emeka Tiles and POP, Uyo".
3. Description: what you do, where you work, and your hours.
4. Catalogue: one item per service with a photo and a starting price, for example "Floor tiling, from ₦2,000 per square metre, labour only".
5. Greeting message: "Thanks for messaging. Please send a photo of the job and your area, and I will reply with a price."
6. Away message: "I am on a site now. I will reply after 5pm."

3. Use your WhatsApp Status like a shop window

Your Status is seen by everyone who has saved your number: past customers, neighbours, church and mosque members, old schoolmates. Post often, but keep it about work.

• Post one before and after photo pair a few times a week.
• Post short videos of work in progress, with no customer faces.
• Post a review screenshot, with the customer's permission.
• Tell people your free days: "I have space on Thursday and Friday for small jobs in Ewet Housing."

4. Create a free Google Business Profile

When people search "plumber near me" or "tiler in Uyo", Google shows businesses on the map. Google's help pages say businesses that go to customers, such as plumbers and cleaning services, can create a service-area business profile without showing a home address, and can list up to 20 service areas.

1. Go to Google Business Profile and add your business name and trade.
2. Choose that you visit customers, and remove your home address.
3. Add the areas you cover.
4. Add photos of your work and your phone number.
5. Complete Google's verification.
6. Ask happy customers to leave a Google review.

Internet use in Nigeria is large and growing. The NCC counted 157,405,351 internet subscriptions in May 2026, and DataReportal estimated 107 million internet users in January 2025. Many of your future customers will search before they call.

5. Collect reviews after every job

Reviews are what a stranger trusts in place of a friend's recommendation.

• Ask at the moment the customer is happiest: just after they see the finished work.
• Make it easy: send the link or ask for a short voice note or text you can share.
• Reply politely to every review, including a bad one. Others are watching how you handle complaints.
• Never pay for reviews or write fake ones. Customers can tell, and one exposed fake review undoes many real ones.

6. Get your ID checked

Many jobs happen inside people's homes. Customers want to know exactly who they are letting in. A checked ID is one of the fastest ways to move from stranger to trusted. On Gikswork, every worker has their NIN or BVN checked before taking a job, and the check is free. You can join as a worker and start building a record of finished jobs and ratings.

Why should I always give a written quote?

A written quote protects you and the customer. Most payment fights start with "you never told me that".

A good quote, even on WhatsApp, includes:

• Your name, trade and phone number.
• The customer's name and the job address area.
• Exactly what you will do, and what you will not do.
• Materials, with quantities and prices.
• Labour, as a fixed amount.
• Payment stages and dates.
• How long the job will take, and what happens if the customer changes the job.
• How long the price is valid, for example 7 days, since material prices move.

Ask the customer to reply "I agree" in the chat. That message is your record.

How do staged payments work for artisans?

Never fund a customer's job from your own pocket. Split the money so neither side carries all the risk.

Worked example: a ₦450,000 tiling and POP job

For bigger jobs, the deposit can be larger. In Legit.ng's 2026 example of a ₦3,500,000 solar installation, the installer takes a 70% deposit, ₦2,450,000, to buy equipment.

What can I do when a customer does not pay?

Prevention is better than chasing. Staged payments and written quotes stop most problems. If a customer still refuses to pay:

1. Stay calm and polite. Send a short message with the agreed price, what was done, and what is still owed. Attach photos.
2. Give a clear date. "Please pay the balance of ₦54,000 by Friday."
3. Involve someone they respect. A landlord, estate chairman, or the person who recommended you.
4. Send a letter of demand. Write the amount owed, why, and a deadline.
5. Use the small claims court if your state has one. In Lagos, the Small Claims Court practice direction covers debts up to ₦5,000,000 (excluding interest and costs). You must first serve a letter of demand, the standard form gives the debtor 14 days, you can represent yourself without a lawyer, and the court aims to finish within 60 days. Ask your state's Magistrates' Court registry whether a similar court exists where you work.

How does escrow help artisans get paid?

With escrow, the customer pays the agreed amount before work starts, and a third party holds it until the job is done. You know the money exists before you buy a single bag of cement.

On Gikswork, employers post a job and what they will pay, and the money is held in escrow, secured by EscrowPay, until the work is done. Ratings go both ways, so customers who mistreat workers are visible too. Workers pay a 10% Gikswork fee on their pay: on a ₦7,000 job you receive ₦6,300. Withdrawals cost ₦100. See fees and safety for the details.

If you use a platform with a fee, include it in your price. To keep ₦18,000 for a day's work after a 10% fee, quote ₦20,000.

What habits keep customers coming back?

• Arrive when you said. If you will be late, message before, not after.
• Protect their home. Cover floors, clean up, take your rubbish away.
• Explain what you did. Show the old part you removed.
• Give a short guarantee. For example, "If this leaks within 30 days, I will come back free."
• Follow up a week later. "Is the tap still fine?" That message often brings the next job.

Sources

• Nairametrics, 25 Nov 2024: NBS labour force survey Q2 2024, 85.6% self-employed
• Voice of Nigeria, 15 Oct 2026: Headline inflation drops to 14.63% (NBS)
• Profolio.ng: Plumber salary guide, citing 2026 Nigerian cost guides
• OPL Academy: How Nigerian technicians bill their clients
• WhatsApp Business app features
• Google Business Profile Help: service-area businesses
• ThisDay, 2026: Internet subscribers hit 157.4 million (NCC, May 2026)
• DataReportal: Digital 2025 Nigeria
• Legit.ng, 17 Oct 2026: Solar installation business costs, deposits and profits
• Lagos State Magistrates' Courts Practice Direction on Small Claims