How To Run A Small Business In The Sims 4

Have the new Sims 4 EP but not quite sure how to run a Small Business? We’ve got your back!

The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies has been out for a week so far, but with so much new content in this latest Expansion Pack you might not have had an opportunity to try out the new Small Business mechanic. Now’s the time to give it a go!

How To Run A Small Business In The Sims 4

If you want to know how to run a Small Business simply follow this nifty guide.

Choose A Location For Your Business

The first thing you’ll need to decide is where you want your Small Business to be—will this be a home-based business or something larger? In-home businesses have a certain charm to them and have the advantage of no traveling, but if you want to keep things separate or your business requires a lot of space a dedicated lot is the better option.

If your business will be on its own dedicated lot you first need to assign the chosen lot with the Small Business Venue Lot type. It can be a pre-established location that your sim wants to take over or a completely empty lot you start from scratch—simply go to Manage Worlds, visit the lot, and change its Lot type.

Once you have the chosen lot decided and its Lot Type changed, have the sim who you want to be the Small Business owner purchase the Small Business Lot through their phone (under the Business tab) or computer (in the Household menu).

If you decide to keep your Small Business on your home lot, you’ll designate individual areas as home or business use—we’ll discuss that a little later.

Register Your Business

Once you know where your sim’s new Small Business is going to be, it needs to be registered. In Live Mode you can do this from the cash register icon at the bottom right of your screen, through your sim’s phone (under the Business tab), or through the computer (in the Small Business category).

The Register Small Business window will pop up and this is where you can set the parameters of your business:

• Name your Small Business, write a description, and choose a logo
• Assign business activities for your customers and patrons
  • You can choose from a selection of preset activities or assign a bespoke list for your specific business
• Assign the Lot for your business (your sim’s home or their recently purchased Small Business Lot)
• Choose whether your Small Business has an Entrance Fee (you will need to have a Ticket Kiosk if so)
• Decide if the cost of goods & services sold at your business will have a Markup or Discount
• Decide who your Target Customers will be
  • There are a range of parameters to choose from and you can decide whether these parameters are necessary or just strongly encouraged

It will cost your sim §750 to register their Small Business.

Running Your Business

If you are running a Small Business from your sim’s home you’ll need to assign areas as Residential or Business spaces. Enter Buy/Build mode and click on a room; the adjustment menu will appear and there will be a drop down where you can choose to assign each room into 1 of 3 options:

• Residential areas will be considered part of your sim’s home and other non-household sims should leave these areas alone and treat them like any other residential lot
• Employee areas are for things like break rooms, employee restrooms, work-only areas, etc.
• Public areas are where employees and customers alike can be for things like sales space, classes, lectures, and more

Your sim can choose to run the Small Business by themselves or hire up to 3 Employees to help. Unlike a Retail Business sims can only hire those they know to become employees instead of just random strangers; if you assign household members as Employees, their pay will come from the Small Business budget and be deposited into your Household Funds. Each employee can be assigned their own specific tasks related to the business, so you can have multiple activities going on throughout the lot.

The business can be opened whenever you want it to be, however it will run for a maximum of 23 in-game hours before automatically closing, there’s no cool down period between closing and opening the business so you can re-open it shortly after it closes. It does however cost §75 every time your business is opened—your sim can purchase Business Opening Reimbursement Forms from the NPC Trashley which can be used to get that money back (if the paperwork is accepted).

More on SNOOTYSIMS: There are lots of ways to make money in The Sims 4. Here are some ideas outside of the Small Business mechanic!

Helping Your Business Thrive

Customers who visit your Small Business can leave feedback directly or in the form of reviews which can help guide you on how to improve. As your business becomes a better experience for patrons, it will ascend in Business Renown and allow you to choose Perks which affect how the business behaves, what kind of customers is attracts, and more. The Perks you choose will determine your Business Alignment which isn’t only how your Small Business is perceived, but your sim as well. Honing your feedback and Perks can help your sims foster the perfect business and clientele.

Passing Your Business On

If your sim has decided they no longer want to run their Small Business they can put it up for sale. Selling a Small Business sells all its Perks and Renown along with it, so your sim will be starting from scratch if they decide to open another business later.

Sims who want to keep their Small Business in the hands of someone they trust can pass it on to a specific sim instead of just putting it up for sale. With the Small Business owner as your active sim, click on the intended recipient sim, and select Transfer [business name] to [target sim]. Doing it this way keeps all the Small Business’ Renown and Perks. It’s an ideal option for sims who are approaching the end of their lives and want to make sure their Small Business is taken care of.

Closing Thoughts on How To Run A Small Business

Now that you and your sims know how to run a Small Business, it’s time to give it a try yourself! Buy a pre-built Lot if you want the easiest way to get started or open a small shop in your sim’s home to sell their crafts. With any luck, the business will grow alongside your sim and their household to become a massively successful venture!

Is there’s something we missed in this post on how to run a Small Business? Do you have a tip or trick you want other simmers to know? Let us know in the comments, and happy simming!

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