The article is an overview of existing approaches and development tools in simulation modeling. All the three paradigms  system dynamics, discreteevent and agent modeling  are depicted. An agentbased approach is considered in more details as it is comparatively seldom used in Russia but is known as an efficient tool for developing decision support systems in business. The article has its aim to give first acquaintance with simulation modeling and to describe that circle of problems in business where its use could be efficient.