Most successful business owners know that buying the latest and greatest tool only makes sense when the value received exceeds its cost.

	TIP: Want to think about how you'll reply to an e-mail message - but worried you'll get busy and forget to do it? In Outlook you can set up a reminder. Just right-click the message you want to set the reminder for, point to Follow Up, and then click Add Reminder. In the Due By list, click the date when you have to complete the reply. In the second list, click a time. In the Flag colour list, click the flag colour you want, and then click OK.

Say you run a carpentry business and you've used the same hammer for years. It doesn't look new anymore, but it still gets the job done. Before you buy a new hammer, you'd have to be convinced it would help you work faster, safer or more efficiently.

That same concept applies to the technology you use in your business. Maybe you're starting to experience a few of the following:

• The PCs you bought a few years back seem sluggish.
  
  
• They're crashing more frequently.
  
  
• You're having more and more compatibility issues because your software is out of date.
  
  
• Spam is taking more and more time away from business.
  
  

But still, you wonder if the productivity gains you'd get with new PCs and updated software are worth the money you'd have to spend.

One way to figure the return on investment is to look at the benefits you'd gain with new PCs that came pre-installed with Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2003. If you were convinced the latest version of Office, for instance, could help you better manage your business, be more productive, acquire new customers or build stronger ties with existing customers, chances are you'd want to investigate.

Comparing Features in Office
You can do some simple analysis and compare the version of Office you're running right now with the features available in Office Small Business Edition 2003. There are a basic set of tools you'll find in all versions of Office — Word, Excel and Outlook 2003 among them. But it's the functionality those features enable that are most revealing from version to version. Here are a few examples:

Preventing E-mail Overload	Office 97	Office 2000	Office XP	Office 2003
Improved junk mail filtering with periodic updates	No	No	Yes	Yes
Enhanced privacy features	No	No	Yes	Yes
E-mail desktop alerts	No	No	No	Yes

Controlling Access to Vital Business Information	Office 97	Office 2000	Office XP	Office 2003
Digital signatures	No	No	Yes	Yes
File password encryption	No	Yes*	Yes	Yes
* Simple password protection, not encryption

Managing Document Changes	Office 97	Office 2000	Office XP	Office 2003
Reviewing toolbar	No	No	No	Yes
Word editing restrictions	No	No	No	Yes
Word formatting restrictions	No	No	No	Yes

Choosing What Matters Most
You know what your business does better than anyone, which means you know what needs to happen to ensure it thrives. In gauging which edition of Office makes most sense for your business, identify what's most important at this point in your business lifecycle. For example, if you want to focus on:

• Managing customers and sales leads more efficiently. Outlook 2003 with Business Contact Manager makes it easier than ever to manage all of your customer relationships.
  
  
• Promoting your business to new and existing customers. You can make attractive and affordable sales and marketing materials quickly with Publisher 2003 included in Office Small Business Edition 2003. Or, use the Easy Web Site Builder to design your company's online look and feel.
  
  
• Handling e-mail efficiently. Improved junk mail filters in Outlook 2003 help battle the spam and viruses than can debilitate your business. Plus, the management features included in the program help you organise your overloaded inbox.
  
  

Whether it's an old hammer or new productivity software, building a successful business requires the right tools.