Let's face the facts. Many of us never or rarely carry cash anymore. This is no different for clients and customers as well. Accepting mobile payments from credit cards opens up opportunities, even if it doesn't fit into the vision of your venture right now, it may in the future. You don't want to miss out on making money simply because the customer wanted to pay with an option you do not support. So where do you begin to find a solution to accepting mobile card payments? Right here.

There are several different companies summarized below. Full disclosure, I do not currently use any of the companies listed. I am also currently researching which provider would be the best fit for my needs. I would suggest you research these and other companies if necessary so you find the best fit for your venture.

Companies:

• Square - Cost: Per Swipe - $0/month 2.75%/swipe - or - "Monthly $275/month 0%/swipe** - The phone dongle is small and sleek. The user interface is clean and easy to use. Square also offers some other…

Starting a venture usually means bootstrapping and stretching your dollars. Open source isn't just a great way to save money. It is also a great way to support others creations either by reporting bugs, developing plugins or donating to the creator for future enhancements and support.

Whether you are looking for programs to dabble in yourself or trying to find solutions for your designers and developers, these programs are high quality and will not disappoint.

Design:

• Gimp - This photo editing program is very similar to Adobe's Photoshop. Anyone who has worked with other photo editing programs should feel at home in a short amount of time. This program is pixel/raster based.
• Inkscape - This is a vector graphics based program similar to Adobe's Illustrator. This program is big on the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format. This format has gained popularity with the rise of responsive web design and high resolution monitors.

Development:

• Notepad++ - This Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is strai…

We realize that some of you may be at the stage of looking for funding. You may have started out self-funded or bootstrapped. You may have asked friends and family to contribute to your venture. But you have have arrived at a place financially where you need more money infused into the business to expand your technology or grow the number of your employees. Angel Investors are a great place to start before going straight to Venture Capitalists.

Let's look at a few options you have, shall we?

• AngelList - Is a platform for startups to connect with angel investors. Here you can browse startups and investors. You can make your venture a profile and network with others. This is a national scale service and is a great place to look for future connections.
• Gust - Gust provides the global platform for the sourcing and management of early-stage investments. Gust enables skilled entrepreneurs to collaborate with the smartest investors by virtually supporting all aspects of the investment relationship, from initial…

I am always on a quest to find interesting articles and stories about startups or that will help startups. I would like to mention two of them today.

• Nibletz - This site is "The Voice of Startups Everywhere Else". They live up to that claim by focusing on startups that only exist outside of the Silicon Valley. If you are looking to hear about startups and ventures that may be inspiration, potential competition or just other interesting ventures, this place is a great bet.
• YFS Magazine - YFS stands for "Young Fabulous & Self-employed". They pitch themselves as "where entrepreneurship and pop culture collide". Based on my time using the site so far, I would say they make good on that claim.

Hopefully you will find these sites to be great resources for inspiration if nothing more. I am always on the hunt for interesting websites about startups and entreprenuers, so watch for more to be posted as I discover them.

We've all heard at some point efficiency is key, and it really is. What is less clear is how to achieve personal or team wide efficiency. I've collected a small handful of web based apps that I have used over the last several years to help me be productive. I am not saying these are the best web apps out there, but based on my previous usage they are robust and useful applications. Most of them are free or have free plans to try out before committing to a service you are unfamiliar with using.

Each app that I will describe below has its own merits and some may have a bit of overlap. Keep in mind, you are the expert when it comes to knowing what works for you and your venture.

• Thought Boxes - Cost: Basic Account - Free / Super Account - $3/month - This application is great for keeping track of your thoughts. You can easily structure to-do lists, checklists, or just keep a running tab on your ideas and inspiration. It can be used for keeping track of a project as well, however, it may not be the most robust…