When you went to school to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, they taught you a step-by-step procedure called "longhand." Most literate people know this process, but few use it to reconcile their checkbooks. This is because a calculator can do this job faster more accurately. Using paper and pencil to do something a calculator can do is a waste of your time. Most of us are far more interested in the objective than the details of a familiar process that gets us there.

No successful accountant would run an accounting business by using paper and pencil to perform all those necessary arithmetic operations. Accounting is far more math intensive than reconciling a checkbook. But the math required to do professional nutrient analysis is far more intensive than business accounting. With nutrient analysis, you're not manipulating one or two columns of information… you're manipulating dozens of columns. Then you're dividing, averaging, and calculating percentages on a large number of totals and subtotals.

As a provider of nutrient analysis services, you're likely to analyze intakes, recipes, meals, meal plans, and exercises. While it's possible to do all of this by long hand, it's far faster and more accurate to use a tool especially designed to handle all this math for you.

Improved accuracy preserves your reputation. Reduced production time means you can do more for your client, charge less, and earn more per unit of time. Rather than concentrating on a familiar process, you can focus on the results. If your business relies on nutrient analysis, and you attempt to do this without nutrition software, you will most likely fail.

This may well be your most important decision regarding your small business. Next to yourself, your professional nutrition software package will be your single greatest asset or liability. It will determine the limits on what services you can provide for your client in a reasonable amount of time. Because your software can make or break you, you need to make a sound business decision. To do this, do your research, ask the right questions, decide which features you must have, and determine which features you can live without (if you have to).

Investment precedes dividends. Sad as this may be, this fact is something you've suspected all your adult life. And when it comes to nutrition software, any compromises you make can cost you. The bitterness of poor quality, a cumbersome interface, and inadequate capability far outlasts the sweetness of low price or the prestige of choosing what your colleagues have chosen. If you shove rational thinking aside and purchase a product based solely on your familiarity with its name, you may learn that investment sometimes precedes losses.

Get more capability that you think you need. Let's face it - you can't be too rich, too thin, or have too much nutrient analysis software capability. You can't know all the capabilities you'll need before you begin working with actual clients. Don't put yourself into the position of having to apologize for your software's inadequacies. To your client, they don't see your software's inadequacies - they see your inadequacies. Look for capabilities you may not have considered in early on... you'll never know when one of those features will win you a new client or make an old one happy.

Evaluate objectively. Don't be unduly influenced by vague claims and hype. Remove the fluff and see if there's anything of substance left. The most objective way to compare the top programs is to compare them, feature-by-feature. And wouldn't you know it? We just happen to have a very objective feature-by-feature comparison chart of 150 features and capabilities of the top three nutrition and fitness products on the market. It's at http://www.nutribase.com/highend.shtml

Don't let price be your only consideration when it comes to software. There are many considerations that you need to think about. The cost of the software will be insignificant compared to the time you'll save by using it. You should be able to amortize the cost of your software with the first few clients you service. Find the package that best suits your needs, then look at the price. Having a high price doesn't necessary mean your software is going to be high in quality, ease-of-use, or capability. I can assure you right that the best product on the market today is not the most expensive product you could purchase. Saving a couple hundred dollars on software that can only do 10% of your work is no bargain. (But hey - it could be worse... you could pay a hundred dollars more for a program that does 90% less.)

Call the company and ask a few questions. For a comprehensive listing of questions that any salesperson or tech support person should be able to answer, read the Today's Dietitian Magazine article "Nutrition Software: 101 Questions to ask Before you Buy" at http://www.nutribase.com./101.shtml. Call the company's customer support or sales number. Can they answer your questions quickly and concisely? Does what they say make sense? Or does it sound like it was designed to confuse you even more? Do they have to "get back to you?" And if so, how long does it take for them to get back to you? When that person gets back to you, can they answer your additional questions? Go ahead, test them... you may be surprised to see how unknowledgeable support personnel - even from some of the biggest names in nutrition software - can be. It's an awful feeling you get when you realize that you know more about the software than the "expert" you're talking to!

Find out if you have to pay an annual fee for continued product support. Two of the top three nutrition software packages charge you an annual fee for continued product support after the first year. Find out who they are and how much they charge before you buy.... In my experience, neither of the two companies who charge this annual fee disclose the fact that they also charge an annual fee to customers when they are purchasing the software - customers are notified a year later when it's time for you to break out your checkbook once again.

Read the reprinted article from the December 2005 issue of Today's Dietitian Magazine titled "Shopping For Nutrition Software" It is reprinted in its entirety on this web site.

Take a close look at the chart titled "Comparison of NutriBase, Food Processor and Nutritionist" for a feature-by-feature comparison of 150 features of the top three nutrition software packages on the market today. You will find this information useful.

Your software may be the most profitable investment you can make in your business, but it will only take you so far. After all, as sophisticated as it may be, it's still only a tool The rest of your success will depend primarily on your perseverance, your habits, and your attitudes.