BizzGram

Inspiration Small businesses often struggle to survive due to a lack of professional guidance, networking, and exposure. Many passionate entrepreneurs start with great ideas, but without the right mentorship or business connections, they face challenges that eventually force them to shut down. We wanted to build a platform that empowers small business owners by connecting them with mentors, industry experts, and other entrepreneurs who can provide the guidance they need to scale and sustain their businesses.

What It Does BizzGram is a social networking platform designed specifically for small businesses. It allows entrepreneurs to:

Connect with other small business owners Discover professional mentors and advisors Share updates, business insights, and opportunities Network with like-minded individuals to collaborate and grow together By fostering a supportive community of professionals, BizzGram aims to bridge the gap between struggling businesses and the expertise they need to succeed.

How We Built It We developed BizzGram using React and TypeScript to create a dynamic and responsive front-end. Since this was our first time working together as a team on a full-fledged web project, we relied on trial, error, and learning as we built. We also took help from ChatGPT and online resources to guide us through unfamiliar concepts.

Some key tools and technologies we used: React – for building the interactive UI TypeScript – to ensure type safety and better maintainability Bootstrap – for styling and responsive design Git & GitHub – for collaboration and version control

Challenges We Ran Into One of the biggest challenges we faced was collaborating on GitHub. Since some of us were new to Git, branching, merging, and resolving conflicts, we spent quite a bit of time figuring out how to work together without overwriting each other's code.

Other challenges included:

Debugging unexpected errors while setting up the project Understanding how React and TypeScript work together Structuring our code efficiently for scalability Managing time effectively within the constraints of the hackathon Despite these obstacles, we kept pushing forward, learning as we went.

Accomplishments That We're Proud Of We built a working web application from scratch in just one day! We collaborated as a team for the first time and successfully divided tasks. We learned new technologies on the go and applied them immediately. We overcame our struggles with Git and managed to work together efficiently.

Looking back, none of us expected to build something this functional in such a short time. The fact that we pulled it off, despite our limited experience, is something we’re really proud of.

What We Learned This hackathon was an intense but rewarding experience. Here are some key takeaways: How to work as a team in a fast-paced development environment The fundamentals of React and TypeScript Debugging and troubleshooting web applications Version control with Git and how to resolve merge conflicts The importance of effective communication and collaboration

Most importantly, we gained confidence in our ability to build something from the ground up—something we didn’t think was possible at the start of this journey.

What's Next for BizzGram? If we perform well in the hackathon, we’re seriously considering taking BizzGram beyond this event. Our next steps would be: Developing a back-end to support real-time connections and messaging Implementing authentication and user profiles Enhancing UI/UX to make the platform more intuitive and engaging Exploring AI-driven recommendations for business networking

Ultimately, we want BizzGram to evolve into a real-world solution that genuinely helps small businesses grow and succeed. This hackathon may be just the beginning.

Final Thoughts We walked into this competition uncertain, inexperienced, and nervous. We’re walking out confident, inspired, and eager to build even more. No matter the outcome, this experience has been invaluable, and we’re grateful for everything we’ve learned along the way.