Why I Started SokoSuite

I spent two years watching businesses struggle with the wrong tools.

At Telkom Kenya and later at Outliers Tech, I saw the same pattern everywhere: small and medium businesses trying to run modern operations with spreadsheets, WhatsApp groups, and prayer.

The Problem Was Clear

Most SMEs in Kenya can't afford enterprise software. The solutions that exist are either too expensive, too complicated, or built for companies in San Francisco, not Nairobi.

So they improvise. Excel for inventory. Paper for invoices. Memory for customer data. It works until it doesn't.

The Breaking Point

I watched a manufacturing client lose a week's worth of sales data because their "system" was a shared Excel file. No backups. No version control. Just gone.

That's when I knew what I had to build.

What SokoSuite Is

An ERP system built for African SMEs. Cloud-based, affordable, and actually usable. Inventory, sales, procurement, payroll—everything a growing business needs.

We started with ERPNext as a foundation and customized it heavily for local needs. Mobile money integration. Offline capabilities. SMS notifications for areas with poor internet.

Three Years Later

We're not a unicorn. We're not trying to be. But we're helping businesses run better, and that's enough.

More on the technical details in future posts.