My favourite businesses tend to be ones which earn lots of money or get lots of stars quickly -- having mainly started using businesses when I originally tried out the Build a City challenge (which relies heavily on running businesses) those are the ones I associate with success. I've found that if you can sell eggplants, produce businesses rake in a fair amount of money; clothing stores are ridiculously easy to get to level 10; electronics stores bring in masses of money, especially if you can sell the most expensive televisions (dependant on what EPs you have). Most of my sims have businesses depending on what's needed in the community or based around their wants/interests/LTW (a sim with high interest in sport or a sport LTW is more likely to open a sports-related lot; a sim with high interest in food or a food LTW is more likely to open a restaurant).

I do use mods, more specifically MATY's business runs you and the customer selector (largely to set the business type and reduce complaining/grouchy customers). In Cresdale and Adamswater Ridge, I've also got the community time project hack so I/my sims do need to pay attention to how long they're staying at a business for.

It's not an official business. It could be turned into one but I like the farm concept I have one going on in one of my families.
It's basically run by two teenagers from their own backyard.
The parents disappeared and left a family with four kids. Luckily one of them already was a teenager, so they just could stay in their home and continue their lives and take over 'the farm business'.
At the moment it isn't much more than some grapes they grow and harvest (for food in the fridge), a couple of chickens and a bunch of pigs. The pigs are the trick mostly. They reproduce themselves day after day, if you have a male and a female pig that is ofcourse. The family can live of it. If you sell a relative old pig (8-10 years) you get 500 Simoleons.
It's interesting how they get by because the teens do have to go to school, care for the younger siblings, do homework, do housechores, stay sane.
It isn't a make rich business like it is going now, but it could be if you make it big enough.

mirjamsim2love your farm business idea is so brilliant but unfortunately my seasons and OFB dont work together this days. I loved your concept and its sounds so much realistic and life like. I wish i could get to run my OFB and seasons together.

The good news is: You don't need seasons and ofb combined for this to work!
I for example already don't have seasons.
I use Rebecah's animated animals. She has versions for only basegame or pets and higher.
I assume you can use them too in that case.
For growing things like grapes etc etc, there are downloads too that don't need seasons or ofb for it. For example Echo's farmerset here on MTS.
And there are other activities you could do that would fit in a farm concept. Butter churn, knitting and there are downloads for those and you don't even need freetime. Basegame already would be good, but I guess with Freetime version you have more options with it.
For the 'farmlook' I downloaded some cc.
I haven't fully explored this concept but I'm sure going to. Connor McCrae will be a farmer, he basically grew up with it already.

That is actually a good news for me I will find and download those mods ASAP. thank you mirjamsim2love that was really helpful and in real I do love your concept and i am gonna try it.

godspeed have you taken your troubles to game help? There should be no reason fror those two ep's not to work together.

Pretty sure you can't post that here.

TheDeadSim you can post that you take requests here http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=392615 I agree it's hard to find! In fact I couldn't find it looking at the site map at all I had to use Google.

Thank you mozgun and jo.
And by the way jo thanks again for the comment about game help I haven,t checked it yet but hope it will work.

The only businesses I have are ones where Sims have to craft the items or obtain them some how.
Like a fresh grocery farmer's market,
Or a pottery store.

I never tried having my Sims own a restaurant. Maybe my Don Lothario will since he's in the cooking career. What do you guys think of it?

My favorite OFB business? I have so many candidates.

But I'd like to tell you about my more unusual OFB lots. Cause this is the true, unique beauty of this EP, the reason why I love it so much.

1. Second Homes - love these
My Sims - some of them - have second homes thanks to this EP.
Needed ingredients for best results: Nap/Sleep on Community Lots; Community Time hack; more than one map per hood; res lots turned com.

I've used downtowns and shopping districts for this one. Right now, Elsewhere Sims have Simville and Driftwood to choose from. Or rather, the other way around: the Sims from the downtown and the shopping district will buy week-end houses in Elsewhere, which is developing an agriculturally minded sort of tourism. It is also becoming an artist colony - but that's another OFB story.

2. Schools of all sorts - one of my favorites, btw
Needed ingredients: Community Time hack - as always, for best experience; Inge's School objects + any educational objects you can come up with; com lot skilling hack

The principal owns it on paper - the real owner is the town. It's a lot where adults and elders can visit during the day - a non-school day, that is. In the evenings, it becomes a sort of teen hideout. There's a basketball court there so the school becomes the spot for sporty Sims. And those that are friends with them - usually, in time, all teens start hanging there. The principal? S/he usually ends up reading something. I have a mod for autonomous reading.

Of course, schools can make money. I personally disprove of the sales of knowledge, since the school is a temple and the sacred stuff isn't for sale. But, hey: they *could* make tons of money. They could - but I won't describe the needed ingredients for that, though.

3. Nature Preserves - a thing that just got made for the first time in Simville, but it's cool
Needed ingredients: a large lot of land; plenty of natural resources of any kind (bushes, trees, lakes, grass, butterflies, whatever you got and looks like your general hood greenery); com lot skilling/enthusiasm hack.
Simville has these Sims that are all so... particular. Namely, a large percent of its population loves nature. And lives in apartments. So, you see my predicament? The nearest natural environment is in Elsewhere - very far away. Or is it? Isn't there a lot of land that still has untouched nature on it?

Nature Preserve is a spot where nature Sims can come and enjoy nature for an afternoon or over night, in a tent. OFB aspect? The town will run it. How? Buy it from time to time, re-furnish, and then re-sell. No money making aspect here.
It's just nature.

4. Landmarks
Needed ingredients: a landmark building/monument; Community Lot Parties hack
There are buildings around the net - and on MTS - that are absolutely breath-taking. There are similar buildings in each hood, I'm sure - or there could be.
This is what tourists come out to see - so money can be made here.

But a landmark building can be so much more. A church with a wedding venue and/or a cemetery; a beach; a park. All great destinations for parties.
In my towns, all are owned by the town, in a more or less involved OFB way (i.e. with selling/charging in various degrees and forms).

5. Playable Hotels - again, among my favorites
Needed ingredients: a large home lot; separate lodging for the family, preferably (an apt style abode inside the same building or a separate building on lot); Pescado's Customer Controller and/or Twojeffs' Visitor Controller; bandatron; a hack/cheat that lets you select the guests; Accept Group Invites hack (for tours)

The hotel is open at all hours. Some of its customers are selected for a stay and I play them as any other Sims - even take them around town for tours. Others are just regular OFB customers. Hotel doesn't admit locals, so with the use of Pes' Controller (and its accompanying Clock), local playables are discharged at around midnight.
Has: a cafeteria (a cook is hired to make group meals from produce bought at a local farmers market); a bar with espresso and TV+library; a sauna+hot tub+gym in the basement.

This sort of establishment makes tons of money. Just try and see. You could pull it off on the com lot too. But what hotel is open only during the business hours?

...
I *could* go on. It's time however to stop. Even I can see that.

Restaurants are tricky and don't really generate much money, but they can be fun to play if you're not too worried about making money. It's advisable to have a family run it to save on paying wages (which can really suck out any profit you make), and setting the cost to average will ensure people choose to eat there without too much coaxing. Make sure whoever you have as a chef has a good cooking skill, and make sure to click on the podium and remove any foods you don't want to sell and/or are higher than your chef's cooking skill -- if your chef attempts to cook something above their cooking skill, there's a much higher chance it'll be sent out burnt and lose you customer loyalty.

Don't worry about setting up too many tables with multiple chairs; you will never have customers come in in groups. If you want this to be a place where other playables can visit, set up some tables with multiple chairs but leave the majority as single-seater tables as you'll seat a lot more customers this way.

Use a dishwasher instead of a sink -- severs will waste time hovering over sinks and cleaning them, whereas with a dishwasher they'll put the dishes straight in.

Katya Stevens- Thank you! I definitely will try this! And you said how a family should run it so you don't have to pay employees. That is true but you should still hire employees because if you play with another family to go dine there, there will be no workers to make the food or seat you because only the owner of the business will be at the lot instead of the family.

Simsica- What is this more than one map per hood thing?

Simsica, I like the hotel idea, I have always been disapointed that never got added to the game. How do you make this work?

Simsica Your idea is great. but Its hard for me to find those hacks. if you could help me with that it would be so grateful.

More than just the main hood. Some people have only one map - no added sub-hoods.
If you already have BV, than you can buy vacation house in the vacation destination.
A second home - that's a house a bit closer to home: in a sub-hood of any kind (a downtown, a shopping district, etc.


It's rather simple, actually. I've discovered once upon a time that a visitor that is already paying a bandatron service continues to pay and to get customer loyalty for it even when you select her/him.
One more thing: let's say your hotel is level 1. By the OFB rules, it only has two customers at any time. But if you select those two (with InSim or a cheat or whatever), they will still keep paying, be under your control, while another two will arrive to be the "regular" customers: more money!
You don't have to select them - it's just another thing I personally like to play and find challenging. The customers under my control get to live for a couple of days in the hotel: use the rooms, facilities etc. That is: since they are selected, you do it for them. Of course, the owner family is selected too - so it gets a bit hectic, gameplay-wise.
Currently, I have a hotel like this in Everville - a family of four runs it. It's level 3 atm and is making enough to support the family, pay 3 employees and still have around $2000 of pure profit a day - with no special effort. I get to select and keep around as many guests as there are rooms/beds.
You have to be careful when you have a visitor selected like this: before leaving such a lot to go to another, the customers need to be either un-selected until you return, or taken with you in a Group outing (For Fun or For an Outing) and again deselected until you reach the destination, where it is safe to select them again. Why? A visitor that has been selected at the moment of the saving (i.e. leaving the lot) will disappear (get deleted) from the lot when you get back. Nothing to worry about - it's just that you loose a customer.
No real danger, or anything - just the usual behavior of the game with the non-resident Sims in this situation.

Also, it would work well on a com lot too - I had one in my old, lost hood. It was level 10 and was making over $10000 a day. The advantage of the com lot is of course that you get to visit it with other playables. But playing it? I was always torn: wanting to stay a bit longer with the owner. A bit longer than a typicall 8-hour shift, that is, and making it work "around the clock" like this is virtually impossible.
But it still makes tons of money, even if limited like this. I expect the res lot one I now have to make much more than just $10000/day when it reaches level 10.



If you'd be more specific What exactly do you want to know? All of it?
Well, Pescado's mods you can get at MATY, of course. He's the author of the Community Skilling/Enthusiasm hack, and the Customer Controller.
The Community Time Project hack is also there, made by Cboy (i.e. Crammyboy). Squinge of the Inseminator site is the author of Always Accept Join Group hack. And I think Com Lot Parties is his too. At least, it used to be.
Inge's hacks are here: http://www.drealm.info/simlogical/s...Pages/Sims2.htm.
I'm sure I've missed some. In that case, just ask, again

Ah I hadn't realized that, I thought once selectable they would stop paying. Sounds interesting, I'm going to give that a go. I just started playing Florence that Blue Water playable and moved her into a different Maxis house, the one that is made from OFB build objects. That would be large enough for a bed and breakfast type set-up.


I haven't heard of that, what is it exactly?

A link to the Customer Selector
I always call it "controller" - ever since it first got out. Maybe that confused you?

I hadn't seen that at all, so that's why I didn't know about it. Yet another shiny thing. I can see how that could be helpful in certain business like hotels. Sometimes getting the wrong clientele can be funny. It always amuses me to see who buys from Jake's Junk shop-grungy old things are very popular.

Simsica i actually got confused do we actually need other ep's along with ofb to run a hotel or only ofb with those hacks would work.

What confused you the most? lol

It's only OFB + certain mods.

A note: never open a restaurant in a hotel like this. It will push the guests to leave after the meal. Of course, luckily, even that can be circumvented by a custom restaurant podium Inge made. It's called Hotel Podium and it shouldn't be difficult to find there. It allows a restaurant to be had in a hotel setup, in that it doesn't push the customers to leave.
I usually simply serve the pre-prepared meals in a cafeteria-like setup. Or there's a hacked Uni cooktop that allows the Uni cafeteria worker to spawn in main hood res lots - works well too. It's Inge's, too, so you should be able to find it there easily.

Would the food booths that came with AL work, do you know? Oooh, or buffet tables! I like that, a lot of cheap hotels do a breakfast buffet, so that sounds realistic.

The best type of business is the restruant and toy store.

I have the Hotel Podium and I've never actualy tried it... As soon as I have finished building this B&B.

I haven't experimented too much with businesses. Not because I'm not interested, I just keep starting my game over! I'm pretty simple I make make over store, for townies. Where I'll add treadmills, or sauna, and if I can afford it a hot spring, plus clothes, jewelery, and salon chair. I like bakeries, although I haven't figured out how to do a full blown restaurant. I tried to do a snap dragon and pottery store, but it was slow to take off, even when my levels would rise, there wasn't much sales. My favourite business, is a combination of toy store and baby furniture. I found that very successful! I would like to try a pet store one day.

What I've learned though, is I used to make staff rooms, but now I don't care. If customers want something from the fridge, I say go nuts. I do a buffett table too. I've learned stereo's are great to keep customers around, for they like to dance! And bubble blowers are a business owner's best friend! Also, the pop and snack machines, that came with Apartments are helpful too.

My question is how much to do you guys generally charge when you first start out your businesses?