The new small business system in The Sims 4: Businesses and Hobbies allows you to open and run a new kind of venture. Your small business will be able to charge for services as well as admission, and over time can grow into a large-scale enterprise with access to perks and benefits to help increase profits.
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This new system is more flexible than retail lots, and will allow businesses to be started on your home lot, or in a separate small business venue. Here’s how you can open, and run, a small business to turn your hobbies into a new career.
How Are Small Businesses Different From Retail Businesses?
Retail lots simply allow you to sell items from those lots. Small businesses are much more flexible. A small business can be set up in any space, even on your home lot, and as a default, you can charge a one-off entry fee, a fee per hour or waive entry fees entirely.
In a small business venue, you can earn extra money from item sales, including food or drink, teaching classes or mentoring Sims. You choose which activities you want to allow and then just keep opening your doors and your business will grow.
What Type Of Small Business Can I Run?
There are 11 different presets for small businesses. Each one has its own set of activities as follows.
|
Business |
Default Activities |
|---|---|
|
Bar |
Drink Bar Drinks Watch TV Be Friendly Play Pub Games |
|
Gym |
Work Out Bathe And Shower |
|
Library |
Read Do Homework Browse The Web |
|
Lounge |
Do Comedy Play An Instrument Watch Live Entertainment Drink Bar Drinks |
|
Museum |
View Art View Collectibles Paint |
|
Nightclub |
Dance Listen To Music Drink Bar Drinks |
|
Park |
Fish Swim Grill Play On Playground Equipment |
|
Pool |
Swim |
|
Pottery Studio |
Do Pottery Browse And Buy Items Attend Classes And Lectures |
|
Shop |
Browse And Buy Items |
|
Tattoo Parlor |
Get Tattooed |
You can also choose to add activities to these default lists or completely customize your business activities.
How To Register A Small Business
To start a small business, click the cash register icon on the bottom right-hand side of your screen, next to the needs menu.
Select Register Small Business ($750)
This will bring up the Register Small Business Menu. From here, you can customise your business and then the $750 is taken from your household finances once you hit complete. Here are the options.
Business Name And Logo
First, you need a name for your business. Simply type this into the box which says Small Business Name and then add an optional description beneath it.
For a logo, you can choose one of the 30 preset options. These include icons for the preset stores, such as a cocktail glass, pottery, and tattoo needle, as well as some other common store logos for an art studio, music store or pet shop. You’ll also find a handful of general logos, including a rainbow, a flower, some dice and a llama.
Business Activities
You can use the presets we described above, or select up to five activities from the list below.
|
Activity Type |
Options |
|---|---|
|
Food And Drink |
All Things Grilled Cheese – Cook, Consume, Paint Or Discuss Cook – Use A Refrigerator, Counter, Stove/Oven Or Cupcake Factory Drink Bar Drinks – Use A Bar Drink Coffee – Use A Coffee Maker Drink Tea – Use A Tea Brewer Eat – Consume Food, Grab Snacks From A Refrigerator Grill – Use A Grill Make Treats – Use A Candy Machine Or Cupcake Factory Mix Bar Drinks – Use A Bar |
|
Art And Music |
Dance – Dance To A Stereo Or Around A Bonfire Do Comedy – Use A Microphone Do Pottery – Use A Pottery Wheel And Pottery Kiln Get Tattooed – Get A Tattoo From A Tended Table Listen To Music – Music Can Be On A Stereo, Guitar, Piano, Or Violin Paint – Use An Activity Table Or Easel Play An Instrument – Play A Guitar, Violin, Or Piano Play A Guitar Play A Piano Play A Violin Practice Tattooing – Practice On A Sketchpad Or Tattoo Table View Art – Includes Bonsai Trees, Paintings, Sculptures, Some Decorations View Collectibles – Any Item In Household Collectibles Watch Live Entertainment – All Performances On Microphones, Violins, Guitars Or Pianos |
|
Hobbies |
Attend Classes And Lectures – Given Using Hobby Whiteboard Program – Use A Computer Read – Requires Books Or Bookshelf Rocket Science! – Build or Use A Rocketship Use Microscope Use Telescope Woodwork – Practice Or Craft On A Woodwork Table Work Out – Use Punching Bag, Treadmill, Workout Machine Or Pool Write – Use A Computer |
|
Fun And Games |
Play Cards – Use A Game Table Play Chess – Use A Chess Table Play Darts – Use A Dartboard Play Don’t Wake The Llama – Use A Game Table Play Physical Games – Use A Dartboard Play Pub Games – Use A Dartboard Or Game Table Play Table Games – Use A Chess Table Or Game Table Play Video Games – Use A Computer, Gaming Mat Or Tablet |
|
Social |
Be Friendly Be Funny Be Mean Be Mischievious Be Romantic Fight Hug Kiss Scare Tell Jokes |
|
Outdoor |
Fish – Use Fishing Signs Hangout By Fire – Use A Fireplace Or Outdoor Fire Look For Frogs – Use Ponds Swim – Swim In Pools Or Open Water Tend Garden – Based On Skill Tend And Harvest Garden – Based On Skill Use Hot Tub |
|
Mischief And Mayhem |
Hack – Using A Computer Possess Objects – As A Ghost Sabotage Objects – Only Applicable Objects Swipe Objects – Steal Others Items |
|
Kid Activities |
Do Homework Play On Playground Equipment – Jungle Gyms, Monkey Bars Or Swing Sets Play With Toys – Dollhouses, Handheld Toys, Large Stuffed Animals Play With Infant And Toddler Toys – Above Plus Nesting Blocks And Playmats Use Activity Table Use Science Table |
|
Home Activities |
Bathe And Shower – Use A Bathtub or Shower Browse And Buy Items – Browse And Purchase Items On Racks Set For Sale Browse The Web – Use A Tablet Or Computer Clean Fix Objects Sleep – Use A Bed, Sofa Or Bathtub Stay Near Household Sims Try On Outfits – Use A Dresser Watch TV |
All the above options are included with the base game and Businesses & Hobbies Expansion. You’ll also have extras, depending on what DLC you own.
The activity list pulls options from different skills available in other packs, including do yoga, or fabricate items. You’ll also find some animal interactions if you have the appropriate packs.
Business Lot Assignment
By default, you can choose to use your home lot as your business venue. If you prefer not to do this, you can buy a small business retail lot, but this needs to be done separately.
You can change the Business Lot Assignment after the business has been set up, allowing you to start on a home lot and expand as the business grows.
You can purchase a small business venue lot using the Business menu on your phone or computer. You can also do it through the Small Business menu directly, by selecting the business name, then choosing Buy A Small Business Venue Lot. However, this can only be done after the business has been registered.
Whichever way you choose the option, your Sim will make a phone call which takes you to the world selection screen. From here, find the lot you wish to purchase and select confirm.
Entrance Fees
You have three options for entrance fees: disabled, hourly, or one-time. The default fees begin at $23 as a one-time fee, or $5 an hour. They will rise over time, as your business increases in level.
You can choose to apply a modifer to the default price to lower it by either 25 or 50 percent, or increase it by either 50 or 100 percent.
Target Customers
If you wish to target specific customers, you can choose from the following criteria:
Age – Choose from teen, young adult, adult or elder.
Career – Choose from all available career paths, including part-time, freelance, and work-from-home careers.
Marital Status – This is simplified to married or not married.
Financial Status – Set an income threshold of poor; less than $10,000, moderate; $10,000 – $500,000, or wealthy; more than $500,000.
Trait – Choose any traits from the Create A Sim list.
Skill Level 2+ – Choose from any skill you can learn in your game.
Occult – Choose either specific occults or to exclude occults entirely.
Supervised Customer – Decide if infant, toddler and child Sims must have a caregiver stay with them when they visit.
The more specific you are with your criteria, the fewer Sim townies will meet it, reducing visitor numbers.
For each category you can tick as many options as you wish. There’s also an option to make the criteria required. This means that all customers attending your business must meet at least one of the selected criteria in any area marked as required.
How To Designate Space In A Small Business Venue
In build mode, select the lot type button from the top left of the screen – the house with an i in the center. This will open up the options to designate space in your build.
If you have used the For Rent system of space designation, you’ll recognize this. By default, your entire building will be set to public, and every room will be outlined in pink lines.
To change this, click on the room you wish to edit, and you’ll see the usual box for altering wall heights and foundations appear. Below the copy and rotate buttons you’ll see the word Public. Click this to activate the drop-down menu.
Space Types
You can now choose from Residential, which will appear as a blue outline, Public, the existing pink outline, or Employees Only, a yellow outline.
Anyone who comes to the lot to use the facilities will only go into public areas. Any employees of your business will go into public and employee-only areas. Finally, the residential areas are only for the family who own the lot, and any visitors they give a key to or invite in.
How To Open And Close Your Small Business
It will cost $75 to open your business for the day, so keep this in mind when deciding on your opening hours. You can open your business in the following ways:
Click the Owned Businesses menu (cash register in the bottom right of your screen) and select Open Business.
Select Open Business by clicking on an Open For Business! Wall or floor sign on the lot.
Choose Open Business from the menu on a Ticket Kiosk in the venue.
You can close for the day by choosing Close Business from any of the above options.
End Of Day Summaries
When you close up for the day you’ll see a summary screen. This will tell you:
- Opening Fee – This is always $75.
- Ticket Sales – This is the total sales of tickets at the door. This also includes the number of customers.
- Retail Sales – This is any items on the lot set as for sale which sold that day.
- Revenue From Services – This is any revenue generated from any other activity excluding admission fees and direct item sales. It includes things like charged mentoring and giving tattoos.
- Employee Wages – The wage cost of any employees is shown here.
- Business Renown – This is how well known your business is and as this increases so does the star level of your business.
- Net Profit – Your profit or loss is calculated here.
- Customer Reviews – This includes an area customers are happy with and notes one you can improve on.
