If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner trying to get a better handle on your customers, you might be overlooking one of the most powerful—and totally free—resources available to you: your public library. Seriously. Libraries today are more than just a place to check out books or use a quiet corner to work. They’re becoming hubs of business support, offering tools that rival what some consultants charge big money to access.
One standout resource that many libraries offer is a tool called SimplyAnalytics. It’s a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) research tool that helps you pinpoint where your potential customers live, how much money they make, what they spend it on, and even how they live their lives. Whether you’re launching a new business, looking to open a second location, or trying to fine-tune your marketing strategy, this tool gives you data that can transform how you make decisions.
What Happened to BusinessDecision and DemographicsNow?
Some entrepreneurs might remember another tool called BusinessDecision. It used to be the go-to for this kind of demographic research. Unfortunately, the parent company behind BusinessDecision ceased operations a while back. That left a void for local libraries and small business researchers—until DemographicsNow stepped up as the new top-tier option. Unfortunately, they too went belly up in March of 2025, so today we have SimplyAnalytics
What You Can Do with SimplyAnalytics
Using SimplyAnalytics, you can:
Search by ZIP code, city, county, or custom area
View consumer spending habits on categories like groceries, restaurants, travel, and more
Analyze the population by age, income, education level, and household type
Create detailed reports and maps for presentations or business plans
Imagine being able to determine the best location for your food truck based on where people spend the most money eating out. Or fine-tuning your ad campaign based on income levels and lifestyle preferences in a specific neighborhood. That’s the kind of real-world insight SimplyAnalytics delivers.
How to Access It
Many libraries across the country offer access to SimplyAnalytics with just a library card. Contact your local library and ask if they provide access to SimplyAnalytics or any similar market research tools. The Pikes Peak Library District provides access to SimplyAnalytics if you live locally.
Watch a Quick Tutorial
To help you get the most out of this tool, we’ve created a short video tutorial that shows you how to navigate the platform and pull the most useful data for your business. You’ll learn how to:
Define your target market
Analyze spending patterns
Create custom reports that give you a competitive edge
Don’t overlook the resources hiding in plain sight. Your local library could be the secret weapon you need to make smarter business decisions—without spending a dime. SimplyAnalytics isn’t just about data; it’s about insight. And insight leads to action.
What could you discover about your customers if you used the tools your library already offers?
