Buying products for your job: estimating value, convincing your boss

You’ve discovered a product that might help you with your job: perhaps a book that will teach you a new and relevant skill, or software that will speed up development.
Since you do want to write software better and faster, you are considering buying this product.
But, then again, the product costs money, and maybe that money is better spent on something else.

So should you buy the product or not?

How do you decide?

And if it is worth buying, how can you convince your boss to approve the purchase?

While it’s impossible to know with certainty, a few simple heuristics can make the decision—and convincing—much easier.
This article will cover: