Meet Gigly: Because 'Does Anyone Know a Guy?' Is Not a Business Plan

Every neighborhood Facebook group in Manatee County has the same post on repeat: "Does anyone know a guy?" Then 47 comments. Eleven say "following." Six say "my nephew," and the nephew lives in Ohio. One is a guy recommending himself under a different name.

So we built the guy finder. It's called Gigly, and it's a search bar for local small businesses in Sarasota and Manatee County.

How it works

Type what you need. Type your town or ZIP. That's it, that's the whole instruction manual.

Search "plumber" and "34205" and you get local plumbers, closest first, with the highest-rated ones on top. Search "sourdough" and "Lakewood Ranch" and you get bread. Every card also has little specialty tags you can tap. Craving sourdough? That link goes straight to the loaf people. Search "snook" and you get fishing captains, because we're not monsters. Every listing shows its real star rating and review count, a link to where that rating came from and the date we checked it. If we couldn't verify a rating, the card just says "New to Gigly." We don't make up stars, and we don't pick out reviews.

Then you tap Call or Website and talk to them yourself, like it's 1994 but with better air conditioning. It's free, and Gigly doesn't take a cut.

What's in there

Pretty much anything a local small business does:

• Home Services. Plumbers, electricians, AC folks, roofers, handymen, pest control, pool and lawn care, house cleaning. Basically everyone you'll Google in a panic in August.
• Food & Drink. Food trucks, bakers and bread makers, caterers, personal chefs.
• Farms & Farmers Markets. Farm stands, CSAs, U-pick spots out toward Myakka and Parrish, and the markets where your Saturday tomatoes come from.
• Events & Entertainment. Bands, DJs, mobile bartenders and photographers for the party your brother-in-law offered to "handle."
• Outdoors & Fishing. Charter captains and kayak outfitters for the visiting relatives who think you know where the fish are. You don't. Somebody does.
• Shopping & Makers, Health & Beauty, Pets, Auto and Professional Services. Florists, boutiques, salons, mobile groomers, mobile mechanics, tailors, tech help and bookkeepers.

Not sure what to type? Tap a category and scroll. Nobody's watching. Okay, the pelicans are watching.

Look for the badge

Some cards get an Independent / Mom & Pop badge. That one has to be earned: we found the owner's name, local ownership, no franchise sign out front and no private-equity buyout in the news. If we weren't sure, there's no badge. That doesn't mean anything bad, just that we couldn't confirm it yet. Flip the Independent only switch and the list shows only the family-run crowd.

The kitchen-table crowd

Some of the best stuff around here never had a storefront. It's a cottage baker selling cookies through Instagram, a sourdough person with a Saturday pickup list, a farm-market regular you found on TikTok, X or Facebook. Flip the Home-based & social sellers switch to see them. Their cards show the town or area they serve and how to order (online, by DM or by text), never a home address. Florida's cottage food law lets home bakers sell this stuff. Our job is just to help you find it before it sells out.

Why buy local

When you hire the family business down the road, the money mostly stays here. It pays a neighbor's wages, sponsors the Little League jerseys and keeps the lights on in a storefront that would otherwise say "For Lease." Local shops also know the place. They know which roofs took a beating in the last storm, which bridge backs up at 5 PM and when the snook start biting. And when something goes sideways, there's a real person with a name on the truck who'd like to keep seeing you at Publix.

One grown-up note: Gigly helps you find people. It doesn't license or vouch for anybody, so look up a contractor on Florida's free DBPR license search before they climb on your roof.

Search Gigly now

Now go find your guy. And maybe mute that Facebook thread. — Sandy