Q&A: Businesses & Hobbies

BUSINESS IDEAS AND TIPS

PLACES TO STAY OVERNIGHT
I'm going to place/set up some type of resort, hotel, hostel, B&B or campground in every world, even if I don't actively play the sim that runs it, or do play them but focus on a different family business when playing actively. So the Small Business lot might have a major business that I play actively as the owner and visit as a customer, and a minor hotel business that I only really play as a customer.

Why?
 * It should cost money travelling to other worlds/regions (petrol, flights, train tickets etc), so if I go collection hunting I could check in somewhere first and hang out while I wait for things to spawn. This could be an overnight stay business, or another type of business until bedtime.
* Life & Death has Travel related Bucket List Goals which require a 24 hours stay in a world. By having a place to sleep in every world I can use/complete these Travel Goals more often in my gameplay. Maybe hotels could have little Gift Shops in the lobby with local items like snow globes, local landscape paintings/photos or books about local history. Little mementoes of your stay there.
* Growing Together has Stay Overs from the host's side, but nothing from the guest's side. Maybe add guest rooms/suites/houses on to the homes of family/friends you want to visit so you can spend the night/several days with them and not get in trouble for using their beds, bathrooms and kitchens. Just have a sim in the host family that owns the business, they don't have to open it when you play them.

Tips
* You could open up overnight stay businesses between 12-3, so when you close/it auto-closes 23 hours later you get a mass exodus of customers - like an 11 am check out time IRL. Use the 1-3 hour window to sort your Owner's needs, and be ready to go again next shift, at least until you have employees.
* The Free Services reward trait would give you free access to cleaning, repairs, catering, gardening, animal care (say, for a Dude Ranch style resort) or even a Butler for fancier hotels etc. - This also frees up more Employee Task slots to offer other services that can't be hired, and allows your owner to have more free time.


CRAFT SHOPS
Great for any Sim that creates physical items such as paintings, pottery, cross-stitch etc. The only things you can't sell are floor items like furniture from Handiness/Fabrication, but you can still sell the smaller items made from these skills.

Why?
* You can spend all your time crafting and don't need to spend time selling.
* You can teach others your hobby skill via giving Classes/paid Mentoring for money, or give back to the community via free Mentoring/Lectures.
*If you teach one of you children, a relative or a younger friend your craft as their Mentor, you can have a great multi-generational business that you pass from sim to sim. This is especially great for historical gameplay where apprenticeships were more common.

Tips
* If the crafting objects (E.G. Cross-Stitch Supplies) or associated décor (E.G. Yarn Ball) slots onto Retail Surfaces you could sell them to customers along with actual crafts. Selling BB items is a quick way to fill up Retail Surfaces if you run out of (or haven't yet created) crafted items, which keeps customers from being upset if there's nothing to purchase when there should be.


BOOK SHOPS
Open a Book Shop with your author, or sell copies of their books in a business run by another sim.

Why?
*Ever played rotationally and wanted other sims to be able to buy your Author's books to read? Before you would have had to open a Retail store and have the author own it. Now they can have a household member do the selling for them.
*Bookworm sims now have ALL THE BOOKS and can expand their personal Libraries indefinitely as long as someone in the world is writing and selling new books.
*Never use the Book Title and Description box as an Author? Now you have a reason to make them interesting as other sims will want variety in their bookshelves.
* Book Shops could also have areas for sims to read their new books, Cafés and even host Book Signings (Meet & Greets) for famous Author sims. Maybe employ a local Author for Writing Classes too.

Tips
*Make a Copy of written books before publishing (and keep it in a safe place, like household inventory) so you have something to copy stock from. This first copy will have a lower price than the original unless you have Spellcaster Repairio spell (can be risky and burn things) or the Final Touch Skill Mastery Perk to improve the quality of crafted items. Every so often you can place it in the world to make a bunch of copies to use for restocking, but the first copy (other than published original) is kept safe for maximum profit.
*Want to get your Author's books available to the public, but don't want to run a Book Shop yourself? Gift a copy of their book to a sim who has a Book Shop/other Small Business to get it onto the shelves. The downside is that there's no additional profit for the Author (profit goes to Book Shop owner, other than Author's published book royalties).


DAY-TRIP EXPERIENCES
Businesses where sims pay a basic, one-off entry fee for a day out experience, rather than something they might do regularly in their daily life. Crafters, collectors, adventurers, animal lovers and even Kleptos might like to run these businesses, starting small and working up to something bigger.

Why?
* Great things to do for dates, family days out or school field trips etc. Interesting places to get family photos, new unique Milestones, and have fun (or not, depending on Traits/Preferences).
* Adds more interest to worlds if the experience venues match the culture and typical pastimes of the local population, but are something interesting and new for world visitors.

Tips
* Art Galleries - Only the prettiest/best quality/most expensive (Masterpiece/Outstanding) creations made by an artist will be displayed, with any lower value/defective/repeats and copies (where copyable) being sold in the Gift Shop for extra profit.
* Museums (History) - A great place for Collectors, Archaeologists and even Kleptos to display their finds. Collectors can display Werewolf Relics and Sulani Treasures, Archaeologists can display Selvadoradian Treasures and magical Relics etc. Kleptos could steal Heirlooms that have been in families for generations (E.G. Medieval décor like shield/sword wall décor and suits of armour) or items from local celebrities for famous sim displays. Replica artifacts, and all but the best quality/most expensive finds can be sold in the Gift Shop for extra profit.
* Museums (Science) - Maybe your Astronaut, Scientist, Engineer or Botanist sim starts this one and generations with different STEM careers add onto it over time. You could include a botanical garden, natural history section with natural collectibles organised by biome, space section with rockets/Sixam portal/space collectibles, technology section with computers and robotics etc. The various area could also have Hobby Whiteboards for Owner/Employees to do Classes or Visitors to Lecture.
* Vinyard/Brewery - Have sims come and learn how to Garden, Make & Drink Nectar, supply Juice Fizzers to use too (can use Juice Fizzers as a Customer, but no Business Activity for them on the Owner side). Have a Bar area where sims can have drinks and relax. Have a Gift Shop where you sell your own crafted items.
* Zoos/Petting Zoos - Have Customers/Employees Care for/Play with various animals, visit the refreshment areas and pick up an animal plushie or artwork in the Gift Shop before they head home.