Why Charging ₦500k is an Insult to Your Talent

How We Got Here

A talented designer in Lagos finishes a beautiful landing page for a tech startup. Clean layout. Smooth animations. Thoughtful UX.
She gets paid ₦500k. She smiles. They smile. Everyone claps.

But here’s the truth:
She just gave away premium work at a discount store price.

And it happens every day.
Designers across Africa doing world-class work for pocket change.
Why? Because they don’t know what they’re worth — and nobody taught them how to charge like they’re building value.

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The Problem: You’re Not Selling Design — You’re Selling Outcomes

₦500k sounds good when you’ve been stuck in ₦100k gigs.
But here’s the reality:

• You designed a site that increased their conversions by 40%

• You saved them from months of trial-and-error

• You built a first impression that helped them raise funding

And you’re telling me that’s worth ₦500k?
That’s an insult.

Founders will spend ₦10m on Facebook ads without blinking — because they understand the ROI.
But they’ll try to talk you down on your ₦1m design quote because you have positioned yourself as pixels, not profit.

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The Real Value of Good Design

Let’s be blunt. Good design:

• Reduces bounce rates

• Increases conversions

• Boosts trust and credibility

• Helps close high-ticket clients

• Saves development time

• Makes money while you sleep

So why are you still charging like you’re selling logos on Fiverr?

The client isn’t paying for your time.
They’re paying for what happens after the design goes live.
And if your work moves numbers, it’s time your pricing reflects that.

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What Happens When You Charge Too Little

Undercharging creates three dangerous things:

1. Low client respect
   They treat you like a disposable contractor, not a strategic partner.

2. Burnout
   You’ll need 10 projects a month just to survive. No time to think. No room to grow.

3. Stunted reputation
   Cheap pricing signals cheap thinking. Word spreads — and soon, cheap clients are all you attract.

You’re not a design intern anymore.
You’re the expert they need, not the favour they’re doing you.

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What to Do Instead

Here’s how to stop disrespecting your own work:

• Start with value: Show how your design impacts conversion, trust, and revenue

• Package like a pro: Don’t charge for a “homepage”. Charge for a launch-ready experience that sells

• Raise your floor: Set a minimum price that makes sense. Anything below ₦1.5m for high-stakes web design? You're bleeding

• Quote in outcomes: “This redesign is projected to improve X. Here’s the investment.”

• Walk away if needed: If they can’t see the value, they’re not ready for you

When you charge right, your clients rise to your level.
When you charge wrong, you shrink to theirs.

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Final Word from The Chairman

₦500k might impress your cousins.
But it won’t build wealth. It won’t buy your freedom. It won’t get you into rooms where serious deals happen.

Designers who know their worth don’t charge based on local noise — they charge based on global impact.

So next time someone asks for a ₦500k design, send them to Canva.

The Design Chairman charges for results — and so should you.
It’s not pride.
It’s positioning.