Education: AA Liberal Studies, Limestone University
Erica has been writing about small business finance and technology since 2008. She joined Merchant Maverick in 2018 and specializes in researching and reviewing business software, financial products, and other topics to help small businesses manage and grow their operations. Her expertise has been cited in MSN, Reader’s Digest, Vox, U.S. News & World Report, and Real Simple. She is a Certified ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Payroll, a graduate of Limestone University, and currently resides in Greenville, South Carolina.
One form of relief offered to small businesses is the Employee Retention Tax Credit. First introduced in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, this tax credit could be claimed by eligible employers on quarterly tax returns. This program was expanded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act signed into law in December 2020, making the credit accessible to more employers.
The SBA offers a variety of loan programs that vary according to business needs. Its flagship program is the 7(a) loan program, which offers loans for most general business purposes. However, it also offers special programs such as microloans and disaster loans. Find out more about SBA loans, including who qualifies.
QuickBooks Online is cloud-based accounting software. It has the complex accounting capabilities that small business owners need and supports numerous integrations. Quickbooks Online has a lot to offer in terms of features, accounting, and usability.
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.
Kickstarter is dedicated to the crowdfunding of creative projects, not charity or personal use. Kickstarter has seen over 5 billion dollars pledged to projects, over 184,000 successfully funded projects, and over 18 million total backers. While Kickstarter is not without its critics, it occupies a commanding position in the crowdfunding field.
ZipBooks is a cloud-based accounting program that offers intuitive, color-coded design with a number of features, including invoicing, contact management, project management, and time tracking. It offers such features as time tracking, project management, and basic job costing even on the free plan. Be aware of the limited reports and integrations.
Crest Capital is an online equipment financer. This company offers a variety of leasing options designed to facilitate ownership or temporary utilization of a wide variety of business-related equipment. Crest’s rates are good, but if you can’t meet Crest’s high qualification standards, however, you may want to have some alternatives in mind.
Lending Club Personal Loans can be used for entrepreneurial and business startup purposes. The application process is easy and its rates and terms are highly competitive. Lending Club Personal Loans are ideal for startups.
This factor offers flexible services that will work for a number of businesses, no matter how large your business is or how long you’ve been in business. You don’t have to deal with monthly minimums, pay an excess of additional fees, or worry about your customers going bankrupt. Add those things to a strong physical presence (via offices in over 25 different cities) and more than 50 years of factoring experience and Riviera Finance is certainly worth the time it would take to get a quote.
Breakout Capital offers short-term business financing solutions to small businesses. It has low borrower qualifications, prepayment discounts and easy renewal process.
Lendio is a business financing platform that matches customers to funders, including SBA/PPP lenders. It has a relaxed credit score requirement, and there’s no fee for using the service.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
