I can't get my Business to work... In the 16 Years since I played Sims 2 I never used OFB and I wanna start doing it now so I can have my sims shop at other sims shops instad of using Buy mode for realism but I'm so damn baaaaaad!

I tried it with a florist and I only get -stars... I do have a gold badge cashier working... I do restock my stuff... but people just stay around my shop and get minus stars idk how to stop that! If I try to sell something it mostly fails (Have gold badge in sales)

Right now my shop has a rating of whole 0! I had two ban two people cause they got pissed that they started fights with me and my employes is there any trick? Do I something extremly wrong?

I heard as tipp to make the employes selectable but that completely glitched them that the game forgot they were even working there

Been a while...

I usually did the sales pitch when they were very close to buying (almost green meter above their head). If the meter is lower, it takes longer and it's more likely it will fail (unless you're at a higher business level).

You may also want to make sure there's a break room for the employees available on the lot (fridge + toilet, only available for employees), and a toilet available for customers if you see them start complaining of needs (usually more of an issue with a ticket machine business).

Make sure you don't set the prices too high compared to the level you're at. Slightly above buy price is fine at 0 stars, but don't go a lot higher until you get some stars. Too high prices will make customers unhappy. You can also try to price items differently, so some are cheap, some are a bit more expensive.

Don't mix a ticket machine with a sales business. I've done that a few times, and the sims just get confused...

Flowers, small toys, and cheap things in general - for some reason seem to take a lot longer to reach a high score. For your first few businesses, try with larger/more expensive things (robots, bigger toys, pottery vases, items from the Buy menu), and see if that does anything for the score. I usually had more success with those.

Oh I will try the tipp with the sale pitch

They dont complain about needs.. Idk why they get angry just looking at my stuff... I set the prices to average.. Should I set them all a bit lower?

Average should be fine, but you can try setting a few items one step lower, just to see if they go for those instead. Cheaper items can get you a much needed star in the beginning.

Also make sure the items are good quality and/or not broken in any way. Some items can be bad quality if the sim was in a bad mood (possibly has low aspiration?) when making them, especially the Snapdragon (this one emits poison that lowers needs if it's in a bad state - look for green puffs of smoke for the bad version. I think the good one has a pink cloud, it fills needs).

If made with low needs (or aspiration?), other craftable items will be in a broken condition (robots) or be an evil version with negative effects (some toys, like the kite and clown-in-box).

If you have a green-cloud snapdragon on the lot, chances are that's why everyone is in a bad mood.

Don't use employees until you have money to burn. Have family members work. Create a story situation where they can be joined into the family. Employees take too much money and are terrible at making decisions autonomously. Send them home after one shift when they get orange instead of hoping for them to refresh.

If possible, have people with high activity to avoid bleeding comfort. Then you can run from one spot to another to do what is needed. The "libra-like" personality is horrible for practicality. I have a few mods that are useful for multitasking.

Some visitors don't leave. One of the tasks for you is to say goodbye to them if they cause trouble.

You need to sell expensive items worth around 2000 to make the balance. There can be small items, but make sure there are a few big ones too. If you see someone browsing them, go and do sales social. Do Dazzle for the big stuff like flat TVs. Usually don't do hard sell as that will often backfire. Prioritize selling to townies to avoid other families wasting money. I have a mod that will focus on the big items getting restocked first.

I think Average price is fine. If you see some people buying small items that are too much clutter, and not buying the big ones, you can adjust the price by one level.

Focus on maxing out the "wholesale benefits" to increase the profit margin. Don't pick any other benefit before those. Don't pick the money grants as they are one time, while others benefit you forever.

Don't use Shop 2 with the Electrono Ticket Machine until you have money to burn. Before you reach level 10, customers will leave all the time with high turnaround and time wasted on entry. Don't even think of hosting a business that sells exlusively small items like food and coffee. Food can complement a successful Shop 2.

You need to use a selector that preserves the person type. I have a thing like that. Almost every one I have seen forcibly sets them to family member, which causes all sorts of troubles like people aging, going to work, missing work. But don't rely on cheats. Otherwise you can just give yourself money and not bother. Invite an actual family member using normal means. When you have money to burn, you can have a selectable manager.

This video might help,

Aight! Thank you two for the advice! I will keep the cashier since she is easy to handle and she does actually work (A nice, sweet granny) The teen will get fired >

Hm there arent much expansive flowers... the quality shouldnt be a problem cause my sims are always well cared for and since I got the genie she is always at platinum... I have no snapdragon yet placed... Maybe I'll look around for some CC flowers to add too...

Start small, keep it simple, don't push yourself. Don't start with an employee, and when you do get one, put them on the register and shut the store down when they get tired. It's really easy to stay open too long! Maintain a good relationship with them, and pay attention to their badges so you keep paying them a fair wage.

Once things get going, having three people on the lot, each dedicated to one task - sales, inventory, register - works well and gets everyone out the door at the end of the day without spending a lot of time restocking.

Pay attention to the environment score. Is the place clean and well-lit?

Keep your eyes open for people making helpless gestures and turning in a circle looking around. The sales interaction you get with them is "May I Help You?" and 99.9% of the time, helping them in a timely manner is worth a star all by itself.

Do owner or employee, by any chance, have enemies? Are any of them grouchy? Some of my grouchier owners have enemies come in just to complain about them! One of the first businesses I ever ran was owned by the Grouchiest Man in Drama Acres, someone whose hobbies included randomly poking people and seeking out his Romance son's girlfriends to berate. That man could not sell water in the Sahara. His whole demeanor as a salesman was counterproductive and if I didn't micromanage him relentlessly he's nose-flick someone the moment my attention wandered. His high-nice wife or (other, nicer) son had to work the sales floor while Esteban was solely responsible for working the register, and inventory after the last sale was rung up.

Don't have too many things for sale at first, and don't charge high for them. I stock things at "average" and generally have some catalog items that sell absurdly cheap even at "average" markup. These things sell like hotcakes - for a pittance, but taking cash and wholesale perks as you gain levels will make up the income. Every time you gain a level, you can add more expensive items and subtract a few cheap ones, and the increased customer base and goodwill make it easier to sell expensive items.

A few of my Sims have shops. I find selling anything you can make will not be that profitable unless you are selling things made on the Robot Crafting Station but then you lose so much time creating the things to sell. The shops my sims have mainly sell things you can purchase in Buy Mode:
Pot Plants - this seems to be really popular
BBQs - The big ones sell for $1,345 each
Ikea furniture - most of my sims have Ikea beds, tables etc so makes sense
Toilets - I started this as a bit of a joke but as you can see from the picture its actually doing really well and selling mainly $950 toilets for good profit
Kitchens - cookers, cabinets, fridges etc
Sentry Bots - if a sim has a problem they can just buy a sentry bot here rather than having to craft it.

I start with the smallest lot usually Mercantile Mart or Little n' Local then as the shop gets a profit I expand and make it bigger so I can sell more things and fit more people inside.

Some tips. I never hire staff (I tend to treat them badly and they quit ) most stores run by one person, but if two person household then they both run the shop one on till the other restocking and talking to customers. Remember your Sim still had needs that need to be met, make single plates of food to take with you as they get hungry, make sure the shop has a toilet and a shower, you don't need male and female toilets yet, but can add them later for realism. The LeTornament Decahedron XS hand held gaming machine can help with fun if your not that busy. Not really a cheat but having a Snapdragon Bouquet on display (not for sale) can help keeps needs stable. Keep an eye out for anyone with their arms open and looking around click on them and then Sales and Offer Help, this is where you pick up more gold stars. If you get business perks use them for Wholesale Discounts until you fill that column.

One of my Sims had a pond so I got them to catch fish and opened up a fishmongers to sell the fish. I also got other sims to gift the fish they caught to her to sell.
Although you get the fish for free they don't sell for much and you lose so much time catching them. Interesting experiment but ultimately a waste of time

Largemouth Bass §33
Blue Catfish §49
Jumbo Largemouth Bass §61
Rainbow Trout §87
Jumbo Blue Catfish §124
Jumbo Rainbow Trout §221
Golden Trout §518

Never a waste of time if you're having fun.

It is not a profit making business for sure. You have to sell big TVs and such. But selling fish is a service to the community. Catching fish without a badge takes a very long time. But fish is a magic food with sparks that everyone needs, for example, to impress the headmaster and get him fat. Same with other stuff that is hard to make from crafting tables.

Man I wouldn't wanna go to the bathroom at Legate's shops XD

One thing I find weird is that I have 3 toilette stalls but everyone wants to go to the first one even when its taken... That doesn't happen on normal community lots or?

They usually go to the closest. Maybe you need a mod that will make them realise it is full and go to another toilet. * wink, wink *

I wondered if anyone would spot the toilet in the fishmongers

I'm also concered about the ones that are only having a low, see through fence can sims even use them without complaining about privacy?

They can use toilets outdoors at any time. Indoors you can create "rooms" with a great divider wall. All completely enclosed flowerbeds are "rooms" which creates some issues if you actually want to check for real rooms.

My best business tip: use the ticket machine and set it super low, like 1-2 simoleons. All sims will buy a ticket

I play owned business all the time as I play an integrated hood, so just about every family has some kind of shop or venue. I do use a few basic mods though.

Top one: Stop them complaining. There are at least 3 different varieties of this mod, this is one of them that I could find easily. http://cyjon.net/node/122

Tip two: Try and aim for a decent amount of stock not too much or too little. If you only have 3 things and they are all bought up, sims who arrive to find nothing stocked and won't be happy. So start with about 5 items at rank zero if your sim has no badges. If your sim has a gold register badge put out as much as you want.

Tip three: At rank 0 set everything average to cheap. Your standing in the community plays a part in this. If your sim is friendly and knows a lot of sims, that good relationship will make selling easier. If your sim has a bad reputation meter or many sims dislike them, they will want to buy from you and you may need to set everything to cheap.

Tip four: No employees until your business is bustling. Families run shops best but even one sim can run a shop, I do so, often. Even a child can help entertain a line of sims at a cash register. Tell them a joke and they forget they were ever waiting in line.

Tip Five: Closing is your friend. Use the Business Runs You sign to remotely open and close and to clear off trouble makers. The wording on the sign is something like "tell X to bugger off". feeling overwhelmed, close. restock, take care of sims needs and reopen.

Tip Six: No witches. Ban them.

Tip Seven: For any business doing really badly, dissolve, sell it. Then re-buy it to reset it back fresh to level 0. Back in about 2010 a witch caused a fire that caused a brand new business to go to -3 stars. Which is why you are banning them.

Tip Eight: Keep eyes open for any customer standing around going "I can't find this thing". Helping them will often mean a gold star.

Tip Nine: likewise keep an eye out for the reporter. If they arrive when things are going badly close. If things are okay make sure to do basic sell to them, help them, joke to them. Pretty much fawn over them. They will always buy a ticket without looking if you have a ticket machine and they will 99% of the time be positive to your interactions.

Tip ten: Do not use both a ticket machine and items for sale at rank 0. if they have bought a ticket they won't want to buy items as well.

Hm I should check my florist Personality and stuff cause the clothing/sewing shop I have with another family works much better! Also she has two teen kids which can easy help out XD I will let them learn badges after school via the computer...

At the start I didnt even knew there was such thing as the closing/opening thing... I got so pissed that they showed up even though nothing was even build yet she also got a good review that day

I cannot somehow give them specific outfits or? Like at a makeover I can change hair etc... What does it even do if I suggest a specific kind of clothing? If my sims buy them do random outfits then show up in their closet? Or nothing at all? I know my self sewed outfits show up... that was cool

Putting it a different way, you can create a business/store where everyone can buy from it but you don't need to restock or ever play it again.

As an example Bob buys a Robot Crafting Station and works on it really hard so he can make everything from the Toy Robot to a Servo. He buys a small store and stocks one of each item CleanBot, HydroBot, SentryBot, MunchieBot and Servo. If anyone wants one they can travel to his store and buy one, when they return home the item will be restocked in the store automatically, go back and you can buy a second. You can repeat that with every Sim you have without ever having Bob make another item. If you chose not to play Bob and put him in the corner of the map or tucked away he will not die and the shop/store will be open for ever.

As an example this is my florist selling only Snapdragons (yes I mentioned before that Snapdragons are overpowered). She never needs to visit or restock but every Sim I have can go and buy up to four Snapdragons per trip. You could delete the shower, toilet and the extra room as the owner never visits and anyone else only visits to buy then goes home.

Do you make your own shops and stores? Im not very imaginative and tend to just build square shops so im looking for inspiration. Are you able to post some pictures of your stores?
If so thank you.


They get random outfits, which is why I don't have a shop selling clothes as Sims end up with random stuff in their wardrobe wardrobe that you can't delete (I know there is a mod to delete them but im not that clever t use it). At least if they have purchased something at a shop like a BBQ you can find it in your backpack and sell it.

I have "suggested outfit," picked out an outfit as if shopping for the active sim, and seen the customer change into the outfit (if appropriate) as soon as the purchase is made. I do not know how to make the option appear.

Btw do I really need the wholesale perk if I only sell sewing and clothing from the rack? Own made items don't get cheaper xD

OH MY GOD! finally the suggest outfit option does something! For it to appear they have to make the purchase first XD Then the thing pops up... NICE

No; but if you don't want your sim to spend most of their time slaving over the sewing machine, and want to open the business fairly regularly, as the store gains levels and gets busier you'll probably find it convenient to stock a number of catalog items as well as the crafted ones. Depending on your playstyle, you may find that you want to take all the money perks first, or alternate between types of perks, or put off assigning perks once you get them in order to have choices free when you begin to feel a need to make one. As with all aspects of the game, we can only tell you what works best for us. You'll want to bear what we say in mind, but be flexible and experiment with what works best for you.