Product case study
Open beta · production November 2026Reliable Menders: vetted artisans for Nigerian homes
Finding a plumber, electrician or carpenter in Lagos still runs on referrals and luck. Reliable Menders gives households a way to book verified artisans at an agreed price, and gives good artisans a steady flow of work and a record that proves it.
The problem
Good artisans are hard to find and harder to hold to a price
Households rely on whoever a neighbour recommends, pay whatever is quoted on the day, and have nowhere to go when the work is poor or the artisan disappears. Skilled artisans, meanwhile, have no way to show their record to a stranger and lose jobs to cheaper, less reliable competitors. Both sides need the same thing: a trusted middle.
How it works
- 1Artisans verify their identityNIN and selfie check before a profile goes live. The selfie is never shown publicly; it only confirms the person is the NIN holder.
- 2Customers describe the job and get a priceScope and price are agreed in the app before anyone travels.
- 3The job is done and confirmedBoth sides mark completion; the record stays on the artisan's profile.
- 4Reputation compoundsReliable artisans get more work; customers see who is actually reliable rather than who is nearest.
What the team built
A two-sided marketplace, from identity checks to launch marketing
Reliable Menders is owned and operated by the Electrosoft group. The same team designed it, built it, took it through open beta and is taking it to market.
Customer and artisan apps
Two mobile apps on Android and iOS with separate onboarding, job flows and notifications for each side of the marketplace.
Identity verification
NIN lookup with selfie matching, built so that a user who stops partway can be nudged back to finish the one step they missed.
Admin and operations
Verification review, job monitoring, dispute handling and the reporting the operations team runs the beta from.
Design system
A documented brand and component system so the apps, website and marketing stay consistent as the product grows.
Go-to-market
Launch plan, content and offline activation with brand promoters in Lagos, run alongside digital campaigns and measured against sign-ups and bookings.
Communications
Transactional email, SMS and WhatsApp notifications, and a help centre, with the data-protection practices a marketplace handling identity data needs.
Where it stands
Open beta in Lagos, production in November 2026
Reliable Menders is in open beta with real artisans and customers, and moves to production this month. The launch is built around supply first: onboarding verified artisans trade by trade, then activating demand in the neighbourhoods they cover.
Building a marketplace?
Two-sided products live or die on verification, pricing and the first hundred suppliers. We are in the middle of that work right now and can tell you what we would do differently. Talk to the team behind Reliable Menders.