A family friend shared these words of wisdom, “go where you want to be,” with our family many years ago. It originally pertained to finding the best parking spot, but has since been used for any number of scenarios in which going where you want to be is applicable. And, researching your business location is yet another instance where this phrase is particularly relevant.
DemographicsNow is a helpful resource for prospective and current entrepreneurs who are interested in identifying patterns or trends that may affect sales. The database pulls information from US Census, and projections, Simmons National Consumer Study, Mosaic USA Marketing Services, Consumer Expenditure Survey, and MPSI Traffic data. Each of the data sets can then be isolated to your specified search-area in your customized DemographicsNow map.
Depending on the business industry you can research different aspects of consumer spending in the area for your product or service. Opening a restaurant or lawn care business or retail store? How much does the average household spend on those products and services in that area?
The following are examples of data sets you can select to see if there is potential local demand for your product or services:
CEX Convenience Store Detail Comparison: Average household annual expenditures of common convenience store goods.
CEX-HH Furnishings & Expenses Detail Comparison: Average household annual expenditures on household furnishings & expenses details with a wide range of items from plans to major appliances.
Another useful feature for this database is the ability to highlight an entire city, zip code or create your own geographic location using the polygon tools. This allows users to see results for a specific area or neighborhood and not just the county or city limits at large. Once the area is defined, select the demographics data set you want to evaluate.
You can find DemographicsNow by navigating to the Dallas Public Library website and clicking on the Databases Link. Then click on the Business & Investment category and then DemographicsNow. A new page will open up with a various databases listed. Again, click on the DemographicsNow (Library Edition) link. An active library card is required to log on from your own device or outside the library, but is not required from computers in any of our 28 branch locations.
