The most expensive mistake a student founder makes isn't spending too much. It's charging too little because charging feels rude.
Cheap is a position, and it's a bad one
When you're the cheapest option, you attract the customers who care most about price and least about you. They haggle, they ghost, they leave the moment someone undercuts you by ₦200. You've worked hard to win the worst customers.
Price signals value. A number that's too low tells people the work is low-stakes — even when it isn't.
A number you can defend
Set your price from three honest inputs:
- Your costs — materials, transport, the fee that platform takes.
- Your time — pick an hourly number you'd be happy to be paid, and count the real hours.
- The outcome — what is it worth to the customer to have this done well?
Add them up, then say the number out loud without apologising. If your voice shakes, practise until it doesn't.
You are allowed to make a profit. Profit is what lets you keep showing up.
Raise your prices the day demand outstrips your time. That day comes sooner than you think.