By Henry Raymond Bukuru, Founder of Indeii

I didn’t begin my journey as a tech innovator. My background was in business, but life’s challenges pushed me into technology — not by choice, but by survival. I grew up in an environment where opportunities were scarce, and success required more than ambition. It demanded resilience, creativity, and the belief that tomorrow could be better.

In my second year of college, I couldn’t afford my school fees. The fear of being sent home was constant. To survive, I started selling sugarcane juice. Every morning, I woke before sunrise, pushed a heavy juice machine through the streets, and spent the day under the sun pressing juice to earn enough for tuition. While my classmates were in classrooms studying, I was studying life itself — learning the realities of business, people, and perseverance.

After graduation, I moved to Mwanza hoping for a fresh start, but life there was even harder. I worked as a bus conductor, shouting routes and collecting fares, just to afford a single meal. I continued selling juice, walking long distances to reach customers, and sometimes cleaning someone else’s shop just to use their freezer. At the end of a long day, I earned barely enough to eat.

Those experiences changed how I saw poverty. I realized it wasn’t just about lacking money — it was about lacking systems, guidance, and support. I met many young entrepreneurs like me — hardworking and ambitious but without access to the tools and knowledge they needed to grow. I understood their struggles because I had lived them.

That realization became my purpose. In 2022, I founded Indeii, a business management platform that helps small and medium-sized enterprises manage clients, suppliers, inventory, and finances. Indeii gives business owners the structure and support they need to focus on growth instead of survival.

But Indeii is not only a system — it’s a community. Beyond the app, we share business and digital marketing tips through our Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn pages to educate and inspire entrepreneurs. We also created a WhatsApp group where business owners across Tanzania connect, share experiences, and help each other grow. It has become a small but powerful ecosystem of mutual learning and encouragement — something I wish I had when I was struggling to start out.

Through Indeii, I’ve watched business owners who once relied on notebooks transform how they manage and understand their businesses. I’ve seen people who once feared technology now using it confidently to make smarter decisions. Each story of progress reminds me why I started.

What drives me is not just Indeii’s success as a platform, but the impact it creates. I want to ensure that no young entrepreneur has to struggle alone the way I once did. My vision is to make entrepreneurship a path toward growth, not exhaustion.

To me, leadership is about service — turning your struggles into solutions that uplift others. Every day, I am reminded that my journey from selling juice on the roadside to leading a tech company carries a purpose: to make it easier for others to rise. Indeii is my way of fulfilling that purpose.