Why I Built TBBX
For years, I watched hardworking business owners spend countless hours posting on social media, attending networking events, and chasing referrals that rarely developed into meaningful business relationships.
The problem was not a lack of effort. It was a lack of consistency.
Real business relationships are not built through one meeting, one introduction, or one Facebook post. They are built by seeing the same trusted local business owners month after month, learning about one another’s businesses, and becoming confident enough to refer customers without hesitation.
That is why I created Tampa Bay Business Exchange.
TBBX gives local business owners a practical way to stay connected, build genuine trust, and grow together—without taking them away from the customers and businesses that need them.
Your customers come first. TBBX exists to help you stay connected without taking you away from your business.
— Anthony Cioci, Founder
Built for Tampa Bay Businesses
Tampa Bay Business Exchange started with a simple idea: local businesses need more than another place to post — they need a better way to meet, connect, build relationships, and generate referrals.
Building Something That Didn’t Exist Yet
I designed and developed TBBX from the ground up with one goal in mind: create a practical business networking system that makes it easier for Tampa Bay business owners to connect with one another — wherever they happen to be.
I didn’t come into this project as a traditional software developer. I came into it as a business owner with an idea of what I wanted the system to accomplish.
Using AI-assisted development — particularly ChatGPT as a development, troubleshooting, planning, and creative partner — I turned that idea into a working business platform.
Two Months of Building, Testing & Refining
What you see today represents roughly two months of concentrated work — along with plenty of long days and more than a few sleepless nights.
There were times when it felt like it was just me, ChatGPT, and an endless supply of cappuccinos trying to figure out the next problem. ☕
We built things, broke things, fixed them, learned from them, and kept going. I probably went through more cappuccinos than I care to count, but every late night was worth it to bring TBBX to life for Tampa Bay businesses.
That time included planning, designing, coding, integrating systems, building automations, testing, troubleshooting, rebuilding things that didn’t work, and continually improving the experience.
From the first idea to a working platform, virtually every piece was developed, connected, tested, and refined with one purpose: creating something genuinely useful for Tampa Bay businesses.
Connecting the Technology Behind TBBX
Building TBBX involved connecting many different technologies into one working ecosystem.
The platform combines a custom React member portal, Vercel cloud deployment, GitHub version control, Clerk authentication and member access, CRM and automations, Google Calendar and Google Meet integration, custom APIs, membership and attendance systems, business directories, referral tools, industry availability controls, email workflows, and AI-powered member support.
We tested. We broke things. We fixed them. We redesigned sections that didn’t work the way they should. We traced problems through code, APIs, authentication, CRM records, domains, deployments, email systems, and workflows until everything worked together.
And we kept improving it.
Built With AI — Directed by Human Vision
AI played an important role in developing TBBX.
ChatGPT helped me turn ideas into code, troubleshoot technical problems, develop workflows, plan integrations, refine the user experience, create content, and think through how the different pieces of the platform should communicate.
Every major feature began with a real business need and a decision about how TBBX could make networking easier, faster, and more useful for local business owners.
Every Feature Started With a Question
How do members find each other? How do we protect industries? How do we make meetings easy to attend? How can someone participate while they’re working? How do we manage referrals? How do we support members? How do we make the entire process easier?
Those were the questions behind the platform.
AI helped me build the solutions, but the direction came from real-world business experience and a clear vision for what local business networking could become.
Networking Designed Around Real Life
TBBX wasn’t built simply to put another networking organization online.
It was built for the contractor between jobs, the real estate professional on the road, the business owner sitting at a desk, and the entrepreneur who doesn’t have hours to spend traveling to networking meetings.
Members can connect from a phone, tablet, or computer. They can meet other Tampa Bay business owners face-to-face online, build relationships, become more visible in the local business community, exchange referrals, and create opportunities that might never have existed otherwise.
Help Tampa Bay businesses meet more people, build stronger relationships, create more opportunities, and grow.
If TBBX helps one local business owner meet the right person, receive the right referral, land the right customer, or build a relationship that changes the direction of their business, then all the work that went into building it was worth it.