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Tips for Taking Control of Your Business Finances

As a business owner, your ability to manage the money you earn is just as, or even more important than actually making the money. Are you using your money wisely, or simply wasting it? Here are some tips for taking control of your finances and keeping more of what you earn:

Write it Down: Even when it seems like a pain, or just one more thing to do, writing down the money that you earn in your business, and the money that you spend, is a valuable activity. When you see your income and expenses in black and white, it helps you make better decisions, and identify areas of waste. Use this simple spreadsheet: Business Income_Expenses Tracker, or your own method to track your income and expenses for your business. And the best part? By keeping track of your income and expenses daily or weekly, preparing your taxes is a lot easier!
Know Your Averages: When you earn income based on commission, it can seem like a challenge to create and stick to a budget. But it doesn’t have to be! Find out what the averages are for your business: Average party sales, average you spend on a party, average sale per person, average autoship order, average downline commissions per downline member, etc. Then add up the number of income-producing activities you’re expecting to do each month, and use the average amount you can earn for each one. That gives you the total amount of money you have that month to work with. For example, if you can earn $120 per average party in your company and typically spend $20 per party on expenses (printing, gas, prizes, postage, etc.), and you have 4 parties scheduled that month, you can budget $400 for the month in party income. By knowing what you have on your calendar, you can create a monthly budget. And if something unexpected happens, you know exactly what you need to add to your calendar to reach your budgeted numbers.
Make a Budget: It’s very easy to impulse buy. The latest gadget is awfully tempting, and you know that marketing tool is just the thing to bring in more business. But before jumping in, make sure you’ve got the income to support the purchase. Plan your monthly income and expenses first using a budget sheet like this one: Direct Sales Business Budget Worksheet Then you’ll know how much your business can support in expenses, and if the return is worth the investment.

How well do you know how to manage your personal and business finances? Take this online quiz to find out how much you know! http://dsef.org/what-we-do/consumer-initiative/womens-money-quiz/

Knowing how to manage your business finances is key to creating the income you want in your direct sales business. That’s why we’re excited to partner with the Women’s Money Conference in Nevada to provide FREE full scholarships for women in DSA member companies to attend the conference. If you’re a woman in Nevada, or know a direct seller who is, get all the details on this 2014 conference here: http://www.womensmoney.org/speakers-and-agenda

What tips do you have for managing your business finances? We’d love to read your tips in the comments below!

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DSEF & BBB: Understanding Your Credit Score

According to Experian’s 2012 State of Credit study, the national average credit score increased from 749 to 750. In addition, the average credit scores of Pennsylvania residents are above the national average, ranging from 758-773 depending on the city.

Your credit score can help lenders measure your financial risk when applying for credit cards, credit lines and loans. Higher scores generally equate to higher credit worthiness.

Your BBB offers the following tips for understanding and boosting your credit score:

Pay bills on time. On average, more than one-third of your credit score is based on payment history. Bills that end up going to a collection agency can drop a credit score as much as 100 points. Consider activating an automatic electronic payment schedule with your bank so payments won’t be late. Pay credit cards before they’re due. Promptly pay traffic or parking tickets and library fines and keep all payment records.
Maintain low credit card balances. Generally, another one-third of your credit score is based on the amounts you owe; often expressed as a “credit utilization ratio,” it is the percentage of the credit limit used. Keep purchases down to less than 25% of the credit limit at any time, even if the bill is paid off in full every month.
Limit your number of credit cards, including retail store cards. Typically, the length of credit history accounts for 15% of your credit score. Opening several new cards within a short period of time can hurt your score by lowering the average age of open accounts. Lenders worry about those who borrow more money than they can repay.

In order to detect fraud and fix potential errors that can affect your credit score, monitor your credit reports for free on a consistent basis by usingwww.annualcreditreport.com. Free reports through this site from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion show credit transactions, but not your actual credit score, which you can pay a fee to receive. For more helpful tips on managing credit, visit www.bbb.org.

DSEF and the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) foster honest and responsive relationships between businesses and consumers—instilling consumer confidence and advancing a trustworthy marketplace for all.

About the Better Business Bureaus
As the leader in advancing marketplace trust, Better Business Bureau is an unbiased non-profit organization that sets and upholds high standards for fair and honest business behavior. Every year, more than 87 million consumers rely on BBB Business Reviews® and BBB Wise Giving Reports® to help them find trustworthy businesses and charities across North America. Visit www.bbb.org/us for more information.

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Three Ways to Close the Deal

Three Ways to Close the Deal

So you’ve gotten that sales meeting, prepared for each possible scenario, made friendly conversation, and have conveyed your ideas and pitch to the best of your ability. Your job is not finished yet, however, because you still need to close the deal. This, for the majority of people in sales, is the most difficult part of the business. The key to successfully closing a deal is to be proactive about why a person may say no and to eliminate his or her reasons for doing so. Here are three techniques to help you close more sales

Understand hesitation and address it by solving the problem. From your point of view, there is no reason to hesitate. You know what a great value you are providing and have no reason to doubt yourself. So put yourself in the other person’s shoes. If you can understand the reason why they may be hesitant, you can deal with it head on, and may be able to overcome the objection altogether by demonstrating how your product or service can solve a problem. For example, a hair stylist and colorist operates her own business doing her clients’ hair in the privacy of their own homes. She is offering new and current customers a package for purchase in which they can have monthly coloring touch-ups, all paid for in advance. While pitching this service, a prospective customer seems hesitant to pay for services that wouldn’t be rendered for months into the future. The stylist validates this concern, and also points out that because customers wait too long in between coloring treatments, the service takes longer and costs more. So by having monthly touch-ups, money would be saved in the long run and hair color would always be properly maintained. She winds up closing the deal because she did not dismiss the client’s concern, but rather confirmed it and then followed up with a solution to the problem.
Fine tune your market and focus on a niche. In an effort to cast a wide net and appeal to as many customers as possible, you could be missing out on success within a niche. The hair stylist mentioned above certainly provides services that likely appeal to a broad range of people, but because she makes house calls and provides a monthly touch-up service, she focuses mostly on working mothers over age 35. This population of women have several things in common that make the stylist a valuable asset to their lives: they’ve started coloring their hair to cover up grays, they need to maintain a professional appearance, their work schedule is too demanding to regularly visit the salon,and when they are not working, they need to be home to care for their children, so an in-home appointment is most convenient. Knowing her target market allows the stylist to put the most time, money, and energy into attracting clients in this population for increased success. Think about a niche that might be most interested in what you have to offer, and come up with ways to specifically appeal to the needs of this market.
Take the focus off business/sales and make it fun. More and more companies are looking to gamification to attract new clients. Consider simple ways to incorporate more fun into a sales pitch or other type of client meeting. For example, to educate potential clients about your product or service, consider a mini-trivia game in which your prospect guesses the correct answers for a small prize. Use whatever fits the situation and personalities of those involved, such as music, video, gaming, comedy, etc. A sales meeting should not be an unpleasant experience for either party, so by making it fun, you are increasing your chances of closing the deal. However, be sure to balance fun with the professionalism needed for the situation.

Closing the deal requires that you understand the needs of the customer, and then highlight how your products or services meet that need. Remember to always be honest, and let the strengths of what you have to offer and your enthusiasm shine through. When the customer understands how your product or service fits their situation, and trusts that you have their best interests at heart, you are more likely to close the deal.

What tips do you have for closing the deal? Please share them below!

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Five Things You Should Do Every Week to Build Momentum

Five Things You Should Do Every Week to Build Momentum

Your business should be in constant motion, moving forward all the time. If this does not happen, your business becomes static and can eventually fizzle. In order to build momentum consistently, you can do a few simple things that maintain your progress and renew your motivation. Start with this list to continue moving your business forward.

Connect and follow up socially. Schedule some time during each week when you review your contacts. Connect with those you haven’t corresponded with lately, and follow up with those you may have been playing phone tag with. When appropriate, arrange a social visit with contacts such as a lunch meeting or play date with your children. Interacting with contacts in a way that isn’t always about business will help you stay in touch and will make it easier to reach out to them professionally when the opportunity arises.
Assess and reflect. Don’t let too much time go by in between assessments of your business. Consider taking a look at a different aspect of your business each week. For example, this week will be devoted to assessing the quality of your customer service, while next week’s focus will be your social media presence. Reflect on each element by considering what works and what doesn’t, or what could use improvement.
Make adjustments. Using your findings from these weekly assessments, make the necessary adjustments. If you find that your Facebook page has lots of activity, but your blog is getting very few hits because you don’t post often enough, adjust your writing and sharing schedule to fix the problem. There is no need to tackle too much at once; remember that these assessments and adjustments should happen on a weekly or even monthly basis. If you don’t finish or get too overwhelmed, put it aside and continue the work next week.
Network with influencers and mentors, and partner with others. Reach out to the people who have helped make your business possible. Network with them by asking for referrals or initiating a mutually beneficial partnership. One boutique owner was strongly influenced to start up her business by an old college friend who runs a successful weight loss/nutrition center. A good idea would be for the two of them to hold a joint promotional event where current and prospective customers can find services to complement ones they are already using. These opportunities can’t happen without frequent networking.
Be sociable. Make it a point to socialize with others whenever the chance occurs. Be friendly, ask questions to learn about others, listen carefully, and show that you truly care. It’s easy to get so caught up in our own work environment that we don’t take the time to venture out socially often enough. Give yourself this time at least once a week.

By working these momentum building activities into your weekly schedule, you are maintaining a successful business and taking steps to move it forward. How do you build momentum for your business? Please share your ideas below!

To get your free copy of the eBook, click here: 15 Days to Greater Success. You can download it from our Facebook Page. And while you’re there, you can download our other free eBooks too: Business Owner’s Road Map to Success, Creating Your Success Mindset, and Reflections on Success. They’re all designed to give you an edge in your business, and help you focus on the daily practices that lead to your goals.

Please share this link with the business owners you know: http://on.fb.me/VHcVB3

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Are You Making These Mistakes in Business?

Are You Making These Mistakes in Business?

Throughout your career as a small business owner, you are bound to make the occasional mistake. No matter how prepared you are, how much research you have done, or how smart you and your team may be, mishaps are pretty much a guarantee. However, the good news is that as long as you accept them, take them in stride, and learn from them, the damage will usually be minimal. Here is a brief list of some common mistakes made by small business owners to help you steer clear of preventable missteps.

Inconsistency – Being consistent is an absolute must, whether it pertains to your company policies, customer service protocol, or any other aspect of the way your business operates. Inconsistency equals lack of reliability and will send your customers and staff running to your competitors. For example, your staff handbook clearly states that repeated lateness to work will result in first a warning, then a brief suspension, and finally dismissal. This policy is enforced for everyone except one employee you’ve known since college. Because you and your friend go back a long way, you have turned a blind eye when it comes to her tardiness. Not only is this unfair to the rest of your staff, but it puts a major dent in overall morale. When people feel that there are different sets of rules for different people, they become unhappy in their jobs, and their work suffers. Be fair and consistent in every aspect of your business.
Failure to stay in contact and/or follow up – Acquiring contacts through networking, referrals, or through family and mutual friends is a great way to grow your business. However, you must do your part to maintain such contacts. Implement time in your daily or weekly schedule to make follow-up calls, send friendly emails, or jot down a handwritten note to your contacts. These can be prior customers you haven’t seen in awhile, people you’ve recently met at industry events, or even prospective clients whose information was given to you by a friend. Be proactive and keep that contact list current.
Lack of online presence – Here we are in the year 2013. The importance of an online presence cannot be emphasized enough. Here’s some perspective: the current generation of 20-somethings has no memory of life without the internet and has been using social media their entire young adult and adult lives. You don’t need to get on every single networking site and try to be everything to everybody, but at the very least, have a user-friendly and informational company website as well as a current profile on one or two social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. If you don’t make this a priority, your competitors will easily get the best of you.
Neglecting to listen and respond to your clients – Most people frequent small businesses over their larger corporate counterparts because of the personalized attention they receive. Be sure to make it worth their while by listening to their concerns and responding to their wants and needs. Even if you can’t provide everything they’re looking for at the moment, knowing that you care and that they are being heard will ensure that they remain loyal customers in the long run.

Although many mistakes cannot be avoided, certain mistakes can. Use common sense, listen to others, be fair, and follow industry trends.

What other common mistakes would you add to our list? Please share your ideas below!

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Three Ideas to Maximize Your Marketing

Three Ideas to Maximize Your Marketing

As a small business owner, marketing is one of the most important things you do to keep your business growing. Don’t rely on guess work and speculation when putting together a marketing strategy; with thorough preparation, you can spend your marketing dollars wisely and get the best return possible on your investment. Here are three ways to maximize your marketing budget and efforts.

Do research on clients first, and then use targeted ads and personal messaging. You should know exactly who is patronizing your business. Create a detailed profile of your typical client, including economic and social demographics. The more specifics you include, the better able you’ll be to target your efforts toward your intended audience. Once you’ve researched your clientele, create ads targeted to that specific population. Reach out to prospects on social networks with a professional message that peaks their interest in your business. For example, an independent nutritionist and mother of four, “Cheryl,” seeks to attract clients much like herself: busy moms who want to provide healthy and convenient meals for themselves and their families. She finds that most of her clients are working moms who have the extra income to spend on such a service, so she targets her ads to this population. To maximize this strategy, she also reaches out to certain personal contacts on her Facebook page, specifically people who have posted status updates about starting a new diet or workout regimen. By researching her clientele, Cheryl can focus her time and money in places where they will not be wasted.
Promote the value of what you are selling. The best way to promote value is to emphasize the versatility of a product or service and how it is the solution to a problem. Cheryl the nutritionist knows that her services can be costly, but in her marketing, she stresses the value of modeling a healthy lifestyle and instilling lifelong healthy eating habits in our children. She offers a sample grocery list to show potential clients how they can actually save money at the grocery store by buying fresh produce to make multiple meals that are easy to cook and will last the week. Her goal is for clients to see the value of a good education about what we put in our bodies. When it comes to our children, it’s a safe bet that most people will do whatever they can to establish good nutrition.
Be social, fun, and unexpected. Don’t make the mistake of relying on electronic and print ads to connect with your potential customers. Socialize in person and tap into your fun, spontaneous side. Cheryl threw a party to welcome a new neighbor to her street, and provided snacks and a meal from her personalized menu. Anytime someone complimented her on the food, she had an open introduction to point out how easy it was to prepare and how nutritious it was. Find ways to incorporate some personal flair into your business.

The goal for any marketing campaign is to spend your money wisely so as to increase revenue as much as possible. Research your clientele, focus on value, and have fun with it.

What other ideas would you add to our list? Please share them in the comments section below!

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Seven Ways to Energize Your Business

Seven Ways to Energize Your Business

When you have been doing something for a long time, it’s easy to become stuck in a rut. Routine is comforting, but it also has its downside. Sticking with the same routine for too long can cause you to become complacent and stop you from seeking continual improvement. In times like these, it is important to energize your business. Review the list below to find ways to refocus your efforts and keep your business on the path to success.

Establish priorities. There are likely many projects you’d like to tackle or new policies/products/protocols you’d like to implement. Getting started can be an overwhelming endeavor because it can be difficult to know where to begin. Establish your priorities by making a comprehensive list of everything you would ideally like to accomplish. Once the list is complete, choose one or two things that you can get started on right away. Choose wisely; what can be of most benefit to your business immediately? Prioritizing a list like this takes the stress off and allows you to focus on one thing at a time with the comfort of knowing where you will go from here.
Be as efficient as possible. For example, if you are in the midst of a project and have to stop to email a colleague for more information in order to continue, don’t waste the time you have waiting for the response. It’s tempting to take those few minutes to browse your Twitter feed or whittle the time away on Pinterest. Instead of giving into distractions, keep a running list of other tasks that you can work on. Is there a prospect that you could follow up with? A filing cabinet that could use some organizing? Although it is important to work in some down time, it is just as imperative that you maximize your time by working efficiently.
Combine your work with different areas of your life. This isn’t always possible, but when it is, build your life around your work. If there is a weekend-long industry convention you’d like to attend, consider making it a long weekend and taking your family with you. This way, you can attend the workshops and get in some networking. Once your work is finished, you have a day or two to enjoy the area with your family. When you can do this, you are less likely to feel pulled away from your home life by work and vice versa.
Actively manage your time and stop wasting it. For some, this comes easily. For others, it’s a constant struggle. If necessary, make a daily or weekly agenda for yourself. Expect to not be able to stick to every scheduled minute, but with a basic outline of how you want to spend your time, you’ll be better able to stay on track.
Commit to learning new things. Professional development is an investment of both money and time into your business. Without continuing your learning, you are missing out on what could be valuable tools to run your business successfully. It doesn’t always have to be a formal workshop or convention either; commit to listening to an industry expert’s audio book once a month or reading some small business blogs once or twice a week. Always be on the lookout for new learning opportunities. These will keep your ideas fresh and your business moving forward.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. There are going to be many bumps in the road, but learn how to cope with minor inconveniences in a different way from how you cope with major setbacks. The more you let the small things roll off your back, the easier it will be for you to handle major decisions and more important stressors.
Laugh more. Hopefully, you enjoy what you do. Take the time to be grateful for what you have built, enjoy the people you do business with, and laugh when something is funny! Finding the humor in everyday life makes for a happier person.

How have you gotten yourself out of a rut and energized your business? Please share your ideas below!

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NCPW 2013 Contest Winners

NCPW 2013 Contest Winners

A big thank you to everyone who participated to make National Consumer Protection Week 2013 our best celebration yet! From folks that put together amazing, free consumer protection resources, to the companies that donated prizes, to all of you who entered, it’s been a great week dedicated to helping people make better decisions as consumers and business owners.

Comments from You

We’ve had comments from you like:

“I love the Wifi protection article. I don’t think many people realize how easy it is for hackers to get into your wifi devices.” ~ Sunny Downes

“I found the Five Tips for Safe Mobile Banking interesting – it is something I have been thinking of starting to use!” ~ Traci Rasmussen

“I found the article about the 4% charge on credit/ debit cards. I never noticed till last week when I was in at KFC that I was charged a different price. When asked she pointed to a sign smaller than a business card. WOW” ~ Lindsey Duprel

“I love the Money Wi$e portion and the Free Ebook…that I share with everyone I know! lol…

Thanks for being there…I really love everything about the DSEF so many great tips and tricks that I share on a daily basis with my team!!

xo” ~ DivaVal

Donating Companies

A big thank you to all the direct selling companies that provided prizes this week. They clearly demonstrated the commitment the direct sales industry has for consumer protection:

Prizes donated by direct selling companies in the National Consumer Protection Week 2013 contest at http://dsef.org

4Life
Arbonne
Beachbody
Creative Memories
Demarle at Home
Dove Chocolate Discoveries
GoldMail
Initials, Inc.
JAFRA Cosmetics
Mannatech
Nu Skin
The Pampered Chef
Paperly
Princess House
Soul Purpose
Southwestern Advantage
Tastefully Simple
Tealightful
Team National
Vantel Pearls

Winners

Congratulations to our winners this week! We gave away a collection of more than 20 products each day from the companies above. Our winners are:

Monday: Sue Williams
Tuesday: Dawn Mulvey
Wednesday: Jennifer Hartman
Thursday: Kimberly Allar
Friday: Lindsey Pierce

iPad Mini donated by Nu Skin for our National Consumer Protection Week 2013 contest at http://dsef.org

And thanks to Nu Skin, we also gave away an iPad Mini this week. The winner was selected at random from the nearly 1,000 entries we received this week.

And the winner of the iPad Mini is…

Alice Andreat

Congratulations to everyone who won. And please continue to take advantage of the consumer protection resources we’ve provided on this page. There are a ton of them! We are committed to making sure you can find the consumer protection information you need to make the best possible choices for your business and family.

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Three Networking Mistakes

Three Networking Mistakes

Successful networking is a necessary part of growing your business and taking it to the next level. Doing so requires a certain amount of social grace, including the ability to engage people in conversation and making them feel comfortable.

Avoid these three common mistakes when networking and stand out among the crowd in a positive way.

Focus on building relationships. This will allow for long-term planning. Even if this contact can’t help you in your endeavor right now, the opportunity may arise in the future for this person to offer something of value to your business. Give something of yourself when establishing professional relationships. For example, a dance studio owner/dance teacher looking to expand her clientele by offering classes for children under 5 years old holds an open house for prospective students and their parents. When speaking with some of the parents individually, she asks each one why they would like to start the child in a dance class and offers a free demo class as well as a discounted private lesson for those interested in joining her studio. The parents recognize that the teacher is giving her time and expertise so they may have a risk-free trial before committing to a year of classes. This also allows the teacher to get to know her future students and show the parents that she truly cares about their early dance education.
Don’t play the role of counselor; keep the conversation social and friendly. An initial introduction is not the time to offer unsolicited advice on the topic at hand. Make sure the conversation centers around common interests. The dance teacher shares her own stories about how she got started at a young age, which helps prospects relate to her on a more personal level. This is more effective than preaching her philosophy on why children should start their dance classes as soon as possible. A light-hearted conversational tone is best in networking situations.
Digging too deeply into people’s lives makes them uncomfortable. Although you do want to build a relationship and find out a bit more about the person, be careful not to pry into their personal lives. One mother of twins attending a demo gymnastics class with her children finds herself being asked by total strangers if she used fertility treatments to conceive. A seemingly innocent question made in social conversation is actually quite personal. Don’t make the same mistake. Let the other person guide you in how much they are willing to share, but err on the side of caution when asking personal questions.

Just like many other aspects of your business, networking takes practice. The more you do it, the better you become. You can’t avoid making some mistakes; that is to be expected. However, by steering clear of certain downfalls, you can more quickly get on the road to networking success.

What advice would you give for successful networking? Please share your comments below!

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DSEF & BBB: Tips for Securing Your Mobile Device

DSEF & BBB: Tips for Securing Your Mobile Device

By Amy Fowler

Better Business Bureau is urging consumers to take steps to secure their mobile devices in order to protect themselves from identity theft and malware.

According to a survey released by The Pew Research Center in January, almost half of all American adults now own smartphones. The same survey found that 17 percent of all consumers use their mobile device as their primary means of accessing the internet.

Smartphones can be a treasure trove for hackers. Through apps and mobile browsers, people store personal information like passwords, bank account information and credit card numbers in addition to their contacts and other information.

However, a survey conducted in part by the National Cyber Security Alliance, found that more than one quarter of cell phone users are not aware of common security threats to smartphones and more than half do not know enough about mobile phone security to decide whether or not they need it.

BBB urges consumers to remember that a smart phone is no different than a desktop or laptop computer, in that it is vulnerable to the same hackers, malware, spyware and viruses.

Here are a few practical tips from BBB to secure your mobile devices:

Lock your phone. If your phone is lost or stolen, your personal information is at risk. Add a security code to your phone to prevent thieves from accessing your data. Then set your device to lock automatically when not in use for a specified time.
Update your operating system. Those alerts on your smart phone that tell you to update your apps and operating system are more than just a minor annoyance. These updates close security loopholes and other backdoors hackers can use to access your phone without your knowledge.
Beware of unknown apps and links. Do not download any apps or click on links in your email or social media pages without first researching their source. They may contain viruses, malware or spyware that can compromise your personal data.
Avoid unsecured Wi-Fi. If you choose to connect to an unsecured or public Wi-Fi network, do not enter any passwords or access any personal data. Bad guys can use such networks as an easy means to hack your device.
Turn off Bluetooth. Bluetooth creates a wireless connection between your phone and other devices or phones. If you are not actively using an enabled device, such as a headset, make sure your Bluetooth is turned off.
Check your permissions. Check all of your apps to see what data they are accessing and revoke permissions for information those apps don’t need to properly operate. Check your phone’s owner’s manual or contact your wireless provider for directions on how to do so.
Report missing devices. If your phone is lost or stolen, immediately report it to your wireless carrier and have the device disabled.
Back up your data. Make sure you have a backup of all the apps and information — especially important photos or other irreplaceable items — stored on your phone in case it’s lost, stolen, hacked or damaged.
Pay close attention to your phone bills. Unanticipated, sudden increases in data usage can indicate a problem. In addition, third-party content providers sometimes add erroneous charges to bills for apps or services the consumer never authorized. In addition, keep an eye out for strange texts and disrupted service. They can be red flags that indicate your phone has been hacked.
Erase old phones completely. If you’re selling, donating or recycling your old phone, ensure all your data is completely erased and the phone is returned to factory settings before letting it out of your possession. There are online tutorials to teach you how to do this, or your wireless provider can walk you through the steps.
Shop with caution. When shopping online with your mobile device, take the same precautions you would with a desktop or laptop. Look for the “s” in the “https://” in the address bar and research sites at bbb.org before providing any personal information or credit card numbers.
Consider mobile security. Many sources offer antivirus or other security apps for your phone. Research them thoroughly before choosing which is right for you.