Erica Seppala

A seasonal business isn’t without its risks and challenges, but if done right, can be rewarding and lucrative. You can get your business off the ground by doing your research, choosing the right business idea, and using the tools and resources available to you.

Invoice Ninja is well on its way to becoming one of the greats in the invoicing world. Invoice Ninja is also one of the few, if not the only, invoicing programs that offer a free, open-source version of its software. This version is locally-installed and can be customized to fit your unique business needs. If you don’t want to self-host your invoicing software, there is a cloud-based SaaS version of Invoice Ninja (which the majority of this review focuses on).

Currency Finance (formerly Currency Capital) is an alternative financing company that offers a platform to connect customers with third-party equipment loans and leases. Currency offers an impressive amount of equipment capital to new businesses, but its funding process can still drag out.

Business owners looking to save time on paying bills (or who want to move their accounts payable processes to the cloud where there is an electronic audit trail of all transfers) need to know about Bill.com. Accountants, as well, might be interested to learn how their colleagues are changing their practices for the better with Bill.com.

EquityNet is an equity crowdfunding platform connecting businesses to investors. EquityNet is definitely worth a closer look if equity crowdfunding fits into your grand plan. But keep in mind that equity crowdfunding is a trickier field to navigate than rewards crowdfunding.

Square Capital is an easy-to-understand, convenient loan product for Square borrowers. Although the fees can be a little expensive, they’re still generally comparable to or better than those of its competitors.

Patreon declares itself a crowdfunding platform for creators, as its platform allows creators to draw a steady, continuous income from The Crowd. This funding model makes Patreon particularly well-suited to creators of viral videos, online journalists, writers, and musicians.

While GoFundMe’s brand centers on charity, with personal and charitable causes accounting for most of the campaigns, many people don’t realize that GuFundMe can also be used to raise funds for business projects as well.

Fundable is less geared toward starry-eyed dreamers with wild ideas and more toward startups and companies with a solid plan of action. Fundable gives businesses the choice of launching either a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign (à la Kickstarter) or an equity-based campaign in which backers get a share of stock in the company in exchange for their backing.

Indiegogo is available to creators and backers from just about every nation. With a comparatively broad array of project categories that qualify for Indiegogo approval, it’s a crowdfunding platform with wide reach and appeal. The flip side is that shadier campaigns have a better chance of slipping through the cracks on Indiegogo than they would on more restrictive crowdfunding platforms.