Late payments cost small businesses $3 trillion per year, Sage reports.

Whaaat?

Yesterday, Colin Gunnell and Adam Farah introduced Penny, an instant invoice payment platform.

Inspired by the freelance struggles and unexpected business expenses (dropped MacBook, anyone?), Penny makes it easier to get paid.

Getting paid is a real struggle as highlighted by the community members:

“This is a sweet idea. Before moving into building podcast SaaS I began my career as a freelancer and suffered at the hands of people simply paying late because they were bigger businesses and simply could.” – Mark Asquith

“This sounds amazing! As an influencer I am forever waiting for brands to pay my invoices (longest I've waited is 3 months!) so defo gonna have a look at this. Is it any hassle to the client?” – Helena Lester-Card

The gig economy was growing pre-COVID but now it’s been accelerating as more people are exploring alternative career options. In recent years, we’ve seen tons of innovation that makes capital more accessible to people who need it the most.

Here are some of the tools available from setting up your company, to getting paid to global health insurance:

Stripe Atlas is a service to handle everything involved in establishing an internet business.

Cushion helps freelancers forecast, schedule, and track invoices.

75 Ways to Get New Clients lists actionable ideas to secure your next client.

Betterlance is an automated CRM built with freelancers in mind.

Williams & Harricks send real, physical demand letters to get your invoice paid.

Upflow is a SaaS tool integrated with your accounting software.

Lean Hire makes the talent hiring process easier and faster.

Deel simplifies compliance and payments at scale for companies working with contractors.

Remote Health provides insurance (pandemics included) for remote teams and individuals.

Currently #1 on Product Hunt, MagicPattern, the magic geometric patterns editor.

Use it to create unique geometric patterns to brand your landing page, website, and social media posts.