Hiring in the Pest Control Industry: My Nightmare, Your Lesson, and Our Way Forward

Over the years, hiring has been one of my biggest challenges as an entrepreneur in the pest management industry. And it hit me hard that this struggle isn’t just mine — many of us are silently fighting the same battle.

Let’s rewind a bit.

When we first started out, like any small business crawling on its knees, we couldn’t afford a fixed salary structure. So we began with ad-hoc staff — pay per job, no commitments. At first, it looked smart: the technician was earning ₦7,000–₦8,000 per job, doing 15–20 jobs a month, not counting transport costs. But a few months in, we decided to switch him to a proper monthly salary for better structure and predictability.

That’s when reality hit. He pulled out immediately. Why? Simple math — his per-job earnings were “mightier” than a stable salary.

Imagine how discouraging that felt after spending so much to train him, buy PPEs, license him for our software, kit him out with branded uniforms — the works. All down the drain in one handshake. But as entrepreneurs, we know: this road is lonely, but we must hold onto the seed we planted — it will grow into a forest someday.

So, back to square one. I was back in the field daily to keep our clients satisfied, managing two major branches in different cities while also restarting the search for new technicians. If you’re a pest control operator reading this — I know you’ve felt this pain too. Don’t stop now — read this to the end.

We ramped up our hiring push — advertised everywhere. But this time, all I was getting were experienced technicians. You’d think that was a blessing, right? Trust me, that turned out to be my worst nightmare.

I didn’t have time to handle shortlisting, sending emails, follow-ups, scheduling interviews — not when I was on the road every week between Lagos and Ibadan, handling client reports, site visits, and daily operations. So I hired an HR agency to handle it all — for two solid months, nothing good came up. Finally, in the third month, they found a guy who sounded perfect: experienced, ready to learn, hungry to grow with us.

We booked a physical meeting to align with my client follow-up — I never waste travel. On that day, I was doing a bedbug treatment in Lagos when I met him in person.

That’s when the shocker came. Right there on-site, he said: “Ah, this bedbug treatment — where I’m coming from, we don’t use all these things oh. Why not just fog the whole room? Which one is steaming again?

Me, if I’m treating bedbugs, I just carry my school bag with my tools and I’m done.”

I stood there asking myself: Wait, who employed who here? Who’s the boss? Who’s running this business?

And that was the last day I saw him. He came with baggage from a previous boss stuck on outdated fumigation methods — fogging entire rooms for bedbugs. No Integrated Pest Management, no modern approach — just old habits and big ego.

A few days later, frustration almost swallowed me whole. But I knew who to call my mentors. I picked up my phone and called PCO Oluleye Ayodeji (CEO of Dfortune). We spoke for hours about this technician problem. Then I called Elder Michael Somoye, Baba Somoye. He told me a true story about an operator who lost a high-paying hotel client — 6–7 figures every month all because a technician stole a guest’s sandals!

The truth? Hiring is more than paychecks — it’s trust, attitude, baggage, mindset, background checks. I even had an HR agency helping me, yet that “perfect hire” cost me 10% of his one-year salary upfront wasted on someone who disappeared on day one. A financial hit. A mental hit. An emotional hit. But listen entrepreneurship is like planting a seed. Tiny today, a forest tomorrow. Just dig deep, water it daily, and trust the process.That was when my mentors helped me see clearly: This is not MY problem alone — it’s an industry-wide problem.

So we re-strategized. Here’s the bitter reality:

Generic HR agencies don’t understand how our industry works.
Hiring “experienced” techs can be risky — many already have side hustles or plans to set up their own service business, so handing them your client details is basically free marketing for them.
The industry is easy to enter — you don’t need millions to start pest control (unless the mighty regulatory bodies really clamp down on licensing). In fact, sometimes the cost of a license could buy you a korope bus — just kidding, but you get the point. With basic knowledge capital, you can start the service, then reinvest your client money into equipment. That’s why many experienced technicians in Nigeria already run small setups on the side.

Trusting your client details to someone like that is risky. But honestly as the CEO, if you’re still stuck in daily operations, you’re not really building a business. Note this well: you can’t be on every site and expect real growth.

At Provydr, we saw this clearly. So we built solutions that safeguard your business:

FSM software and digital tools to protect your client database.
Call automation systems so your team never uses personal numbers if you don’t control that, your client will keep calling the last number, and just like that, you’ve turned a loyal client into free business for your technician.

If this sounds familiar, congratulations you’ve done well so far without Provydr. But imagine how much further you can go when you automate your hiring, branding, documentation, training, operations, and customer communication.

The technician problem is big from recruitment, training, documentation, trust, branding, site work, to automation it all matters. I know because I’ve been stuck in this same cycle for years. It’s mentally draining, emotionally exhausting, and it stunts your growth.

If you’re just thinking of joining the industry, you’re lucky, you’ve just skipped five years of delayed growth. If you’ve felt my story (or worse), you’re lucky too because we can speed things up and restore what’s been lost.

No matter where you’re starting from, we can help solve this, Provydr is here to tackle this hiring headache and so much more: automation, website design, branding, documentation, business structure, development, project management, social media marketing, marketing campaigns — you name it.

So if you really want to grow your business, book your free consultation today. Scan the QR code below, call 09169671279 or visit www.myprovydr.com.

Trust me — we have the solution for you.
Provydr — Work Smarter. Grow Faster. Stress Less.

About Provydr

Shofu Babalola. T

Lead Consultant / CEO

Provydr is the growth partner for modern pest control and service businesses.

We provide practical digital solutions that simplify operations, protect your client base, and free you from daily bottlenecks — so you can focus on building, scaling, and staying ahead of your competition.

From Field Service Management (FSM) software, client communication systems, automated reporting, to custom websites, branding, business structuring, and staff onboarding — Provydr helps you work smarter, grow faster, and stress less.

Book a free consultation today.