Is Office Live Small Business right for you?

That depends on many factors. Let me be brutally honest at the very outset. Just as your accounting software can't handle every imaginable accounting trick, Office Live Small Business doesn't have the tools to support every conceivable website feature.

If your goal is to build an informative yet great-looking website on a shoestring, if promoting your business means more to you than animations on your web pages, and if you want to build a website on which visitors can find the desired information quickly, easily, and intuitively; then Office Live Small Business is just what the doctor prescribed.

If, on the other hand, your goal is to build a website that's a collection of the coolest, slickest, flashiest, and most glamorous features from 73 of your most favourite websites; if the animations and special effects on your web pages mean more to you than the message they convey; if you'd rather use your site as a social networking vehicle rather than as a business promotion tool; then Office Live Small Business is not for you. Your only options are to hire a professional or learn all the necessary technologies yourself.

The bottom line is that you can't build the next Google, Facebook, or Amazon.com with Office Live Small Business. But as long as you keep your expectations in perspective, you can definitely build a website that will be the object of envy for your friends and competitors alike.