Share Your Business Tips Here

I didn't actually know you needed a license. Oops. Miss Key needs to get back on that computer.

 

I just really like this EP. I'm a used car salesman at heart. I was upset that they didn't include door-to-door sales, maybe even a "SimWay" sales cult...

 

All employees are slackers and never return to work on their own, largely because when they quit from unresolved motive issues, they never figure out how to actually address the problem.

You can derail this by calling your employee on the phone for a chat before trying again. That seems to clear it up when I try it.

Hmm. Have you tried stuffing the clothes rack in your inventory and taking it home with you? That might work. Never really tried it, but it's worth a shot.

 

LMAO, WereBear. I'd forgotten all about them.

 

Hey! I'm going to try it. Good for a laugh, anyway.

Good suggestions! Thanks.

 

ROTFLMAO!!!!! SimWay. . . . I can still smell the crappy soap-powder I bought from them once!

 

Another tip...

Try to put merchandise by the windows. In my home business, I have stuff near the windows, and I've seen sims come up to the window and look inside with a thought bubble of the merchandise, then come inside to browse it.

 

Oooh, great tip. I'm trying that now!

 

Hmmm. My shop is built over the home's garage. The windows are on the second floor. But there's a long porch before they get to the door. Maybe I should put in more windows facing the porch. Thanks for the tip.

Inspite of it's difficult location it certainly drew plenty of customers the first day we opened for business. They even bought stuff.

 

My customers have no choice.

Buy the soda, or loverboy gets it!

 

Pretty soon, Babe, their gonna go shopping for soda somewhere a little more friendly.

 

Ticket booth

Thought I'd save message board space and just add my question here.

With the Ticket-tron (or whatever it's called, forgive my memory) where sims pay per hour for being on your lot and doing whatever is there, do they assess what is availiable behind non-locked doors and then decide whether to pay to come in?

I quite fancy making a bar/restraunt at home (which I realise will actually just be my sim cooking every now and again and people helping themselves rather than a good proper real restraunt).

Oh, and did I hear that someone (Pescado methinks) was working on a mod to make it so time spent at home somehow matched time spent downtown (and vice versa), so that the stupid "My sim leaves for community lot at 9am, spends 10 hours there then arrives home at 9:05am" feature is avoided. Because that is pretty much what is stopping me from using the downtown area for a business, I can't cope with the idea that my sim will have to get up, do a full days work then effectively go back to bed till mid afternoon (then faff and sleep so that he is refreshed by the next morning).

I've been getting my sim to do yoga all day (thus making it look like he actually spent the day at work stats wise if you see what I mean), but it seems, well... silly to have to do that.

 

I agree with the time thing. If it is Pescado, hurry up with the mod, pleasssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssse!

 

I for one like it. My sims' lives are too short, this makes them longer! And that's good as far as I'm concerned.

Not ready to let my favorite sims become elders, not yet ... can't ... bring myself ... to ... do ... it!

This way I can prolong it even further.

 

Well, since I get bored so very easily, I'd rather get them as far along in the little while I'll play them.

Already I'm bored of Sophia and Stuart, but that's only because I don't have the college clock anymore and suddenly downloads aren't working.

I should actually ask you all about that problem sometime.

 

I like this aspect too. Also this is one of the reasons I play all my sims through university. That's where they make most of their friends and enemies, and where they choose their future spouses. I couldn't bear to skip it.

A lot of my favorites are elders now. It won't be long before there's a massive die-off in my hood, as the older generation reaches it's end. There will be enough of them to warrant a new cemetary probably. :(

 

I know. I'm resigning myself to the fact that I've got to let my favorite generation age now. They've got grandchildren!

My neighborhood is just getting too big. Eventually some of them are going to have to die.

Sigh.

 

I have successfully started a home business selling clothes. Here is what I did:

1 - Started with a residential lot, without any sim living there yet.
2 - Loaded lot and changed zone to community lot using the community lot zoning cheat. (I use a shortcut, so I don't know the full command)
3 - Exit lot and reload it.
4 - Now lot is a community lot (you can check by selecting the 'I' icon at the top left corner of screen). The residential mailbox and trashcan is still in place; but now, you have the community lot options.
5 - Go to buy mode and select some clothing racks and changing booths. Put them on the lot, you can rearrange everything later. (get as many as you want b/c you can't get more later while its residential) *you don't need the comm. lot phone and trash bin.
6 - Change lot back to residential using zoning cheat.
7 - Exit lot and reload.
8 - Lot is back to being a residential lot, but your clothing racks and booths are there. (you can check that lot is residential by selecting the 'I' icon). Also, residential mailbox and trash is still there. All is good.
9 - Exit lot and move sim(s) in. Have them call on the phone or computer to start a home business.
10 - Select the "Price tag" icon on the business tracker to put on sale the items on the clothes rack. You can choose your price like anything else. You select the rack and everything on it is the same price. Do this for each rack.
11 - Buy a register. Despite what the guide says, the clothing rack does not act as a "point of sale" item where the customers pay automatically (like the salon chair). After they browse, they will go to the register to pay for their purchase.

That's it!

So far, this type of business hasn't been as easy as the others. The sims browse and their meter gets almost full but then they don't buy and leave. It could be the price I'm charging (cheap at $210). However, some do buy. They will browse on their own and buy like anything else. I have yet to see a sim use the changing booth and look in the mirror. I was only successful in suggesting an outfit for 1 townie. She started to browse. I suggested the everyday clothes category (click on rack). She started to browse again. I did a few sales (hard, lol). She then purchased. The clothing selection tool will come up letting you pick the exact outfit. After she paid at the register she switched into the everyday outfit I'd chosen.

I'm also using the ticket-tron on this lot b/c I have an outdoor area with pool, comm. lot bbq grill, etc. (you don't have to do this). I use the machine and the open/close sign. I leave the machine on and just use the open/close sign to regulate if I want customers to come in or not.
I'm charging $20 an hour (ridiculously cheap). They will browse the ticket machine get a ticket, then either hang out or browse clothes. I've also seen some bypass the ticket machine, look in my window, go in to browse clothes, buy something, go out to the ticket machine and get a ticket, then go to the register and pay for their clothes.

Keep in mind that when you have a home business and put stuff by the windows, sims will loiter onto your lot and look in the window. They just won't come in if the store is not open. If you don't want them to do this, don't put stuff by the window.

I hope this all helps. (SBW...i know you wanted to do this )

 

Smart, so could you setup a whole resteraunt then set it back to residential lot? Or does it require something on the community lot always.