Web design is arguably the most flexible and lucrative occupation in the tech industry. Being a profession that can be run entirely remotely, the ability to set up contracts in a market where prices aren’t regulated, and potentially pay you for life are just some of the perks of a web designer.
While this is common knowledge worldwide and taken as the industry standard, it begs the golden question; Is web design profitable in Nigeria?
Yes, web design is extremely profitable in Nigeria. While this is a direct answer, one might argue that it doesn’t justify the profitability of a web designer. In subsequent writing, we will have a deep study of the salary and profit margins of web designers in Nigeria.
Perhaps after this article, we’ll appreciate the profitability of freelancers better.
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How Much Do Web Designers Make Monthly
The average web designer earns between ₦100,000 and ₦500,000 monthly. This is when working under a web design or development agency. For independent freelance web designers, their earnings start anywhere around ₦80,000 and there’s no limit to how much they would charge or can be paid per contract.
What Determines the Profit Margin of a Web Designer in Nigeria?
The average profit margin of web design occupations largely depends on factors like company size, type of web design services they offer, and level of experience.Â
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The Company/Agency Size
Larger web design companies typically have higher profit margins than smaller companies. This is because larger companies can spread their overhead costs over a larger number of projects.
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Type of Web Design Services Offered
Web design companies that offer a wider range of services, such as custom web development, SEO, and social media marketing, typically have higher profit margins than companies that only offer basic web design services.
This is because they can aggregate resources to handle the entire tasks on a project instead of just the basics only. More so, it means that any employee under the agency is always being productive for the company.
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Experience of a Web Designer
Web designers with more experience typically command higher rates, which can lead to higher profit margins for the company/agency. This is true because their portfolio/resume already filters the kind of clients they work with, as such, they only get the best gigs.
Overall, the average profit margin of a web designer is 18%. Now, at first sight, one would think this just means for every ₦200,000 paid for a project, they only make ₦36,000, but this is not the case. This ₦36,000 will be the residuals based on how the contract is structured.Â
This means, assuming a web designer was paid ₦200,000 for the project, ₦164,000 will be his actual service cost which he’s likely to keep all to himself if he already has a template or premade resources that only requires modification for every new client.
Even in cases where the designer’s process involves paying for the web hosting and domains, they still make a lot more as they can manage multiple sites under one cPanel and one registration.
Moreover, if the web designer is in charge of the subsequent site and data management, they either get to be paid royalties or a robust fee over time.
