Business
- For the career track, see Business (career).
This section describes features that are only available in The Sims 2: Open for Business.
In The Sims 2, a business is a player-made, player-controlled shop in which practically any item can be sold. This is the primary goal in Open for Business. It is one of the more complex systems of the game.
Sims can use the phone to either start a business at home or buy a community lot. A must have item for any business is the open/closed sign. Sims may use the taxi to visit a community lot that they own. Once there, they will be able to do things such as restock the shelves, purchase items at wholesale, hire employees, be the cashier, et cetera.
Players can send playable Sims to community lot businesses owned by other Sims. If this is done, autonomous versions of the owner, manager (if any), and employees (if any) will appear. This can only be done if no members of the owner's household were on that lot when it was last saved. If a player wants to use a community lot business in that way, and that business has a cash register, the player should assign an employee to be cashier, otherwise the register will be unstaffed when playable Sims are sent there.
Selling or Transferring a business
Ownership of a home business cannot be transferred in any way, though it can pass to another household member when the owner dies. The deed to a community lot business can be sold back to the community, or placed on sale. It can also transferred to another household member. If Seasons or later is installed, the deed to a community lot can be given as a gift, as it is in the owner's inventory. However, transferring a deed in this way will not successfully transfer ownership of the lot.
If a community lot business is transferred in any way other than being sold back to the community, its employees, customer loyalty, and business rank go with it. However, business perks do not travel with the deed.
Types of businesses
Businesses can be divided into three basic types. Most businesses are shops, which sell goods and services, but there are also venues, which give Sims the opportunity to fill various motives on a "pay-to-stay" basis. Sims can also own restaurants, which are considered a third type of business.
Shops
Shops can sell practically any object that is available in Buy mode. One of the tools available in the upper right hand corner of the screen is the Wholesale Mode Toggle, which allows the owner to buy at a discount. When this toggle is active, Buy mode objects which can be sold will have a bright yellow background, and the price shown will be the wholesale price. Objects bought in wholesale mode are automatically marked as being for sale. Some objects which will not normally appear in Buy mode while on an owned community lot can still be accessed and placed on sale by using the Wholesale Mode Toggle. Once an item has been sold, it can be restocked at its current wholesale price.
Shops can also sell Sim-made items. The most obvious examples of this are crafted items made on workbenches: flower arrangements, toys, and robots. If FreeTime is also installed, objects made on the pottery and sewing benches can be sold. Of course, other Sim-made items, such as paintings and food, can be sold. With FreeTime, it's even possible to sell restored cars.
Shops can sell things such as clothing, magazines, computer/video games, and groceries. If Seasons is also installed, fish and produce can be sold. With Nightlife, they can sell cars, that are placed on the Show My Ride Display by Exotremo Cars, if the lot is large enough to hold it.
Examples of Types of Shops
- Bakeries
- Grocery stores
- Fish and/or produce markets [Seasons]
- Toy store
- Furniture store
- Florist
- Pet store [Pets]
- Electronics Shop
- Potion shops
- Clothing Store (With FreeTime, sewn outfits and curtains can be sold.)
- Art gallery (Sim-made paintings can be sold.)
- Pottery shop (With FreeTime, Sim-made pottery can be sold.)
- Salon & Spa (With the massage table from Bon Voyage, massages can be sold.)
- Car lot [Nightlife] (With FreeTime, restored cars can be sold.)
Notes
- Since a business will either be on a Sim's home lot, or on an owned community lot that has some aspects of a home lot, Sims will frequently want to fulfill their needs through free will actions. If the owners of a business take an active role in running it, one of the player's biggest challenges may be keeping them "on task".