The SimPrentice: Part II

With The Sims 2: Open for Business on its way, GameSpy delves deep into the cutthroat world of Sim-Entrepreneurs.

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The SimPrentice: Part 2

With The Sims 2: Open for Business on its way, GameSpy delves deep into the cutthroat world of Sim-Entrepreneurs.

By Dave 'Fargo' Kosak

In our effort to stay on top of everything happening in the Sims world, over the past month GameSpy has been chronicling the secret life of Grubbs, a Sim-businessman out to take over the world by running a hairstyling joint in his parents' garage. Part 1 of SimPrentice looked at how to get a business started. Today in Part 2, we'll look at the different types of businesses you can create.

I had to fight my way into Grubb's boutique, not just because Sims were mobbed outside jamming to a boom box he'd set up, but because there was a beat-up heap of junk in his driveway. I found Grubbs inside, arguing with a Sim who had a huge afro -- presumably about the afro.

Fargo: Grubbs! It's good to see you again. Business seems to be jumping, and by that I mean, one of your customers is jumping up and down on that old sofa.

Grubbs: Businessman.

Grubbs: It's huge. I never knew that being my own boss would be almost as fulfilling as doing nothing at all with my life. Did you see my sweet wheels?

Fargo: Wheels -- you mean -- that bucket in your driveway is your car?

Grubbs: [Leading me outside] All mine, baby. If you spend enough time on it, running even a small business can be as profitable as a normal job. Behold: The Love Wagon.

Fargo: I thought a heap of sheet metal had crawled from a gutter and died. Just to be clear, you need the Night Life expansion to buy cars, even ugly ones. But why are we in your driveway? Why are you closing your store?

Grubbs: I wanted to drive around the neighborhood and scope out the "Competition." Get in and buckle up! And by that I mean, buckle the door shut so it doesn't fall off.

Fargo: Won't your customers be mad that you're closing the store?

Grubbs: The other cool thing about running your own business is that you set your own hours. Or if you're like me, you don't set hours at all: you just open it when you wake up in the afternoon and close it whenever it's time to party.

Fargo: I think those are two of the seven habits of highly effective people. Let's motor!

Different types of businesses...

Fargo: [Shouting over the grinding sound of the motor] Grubbs, you drive like a hummingbird. And by that I mean, frequent stops and unexpected right-angle turns.

Grubbs: Thanks! Okay, there are four basic types of businesses in Sims 2: Open for Business. The first type of business is straightforward retail. You can pretty much buy anything and sell it for a profit.

Fargo: So, what, you just open up the buy catalog and then put stuff up for sale?

Grubbs: Yeah, but once you own a business you can buy things at a special wholesale discount. So, if you want to run a lamp store, you buy tons of lamps -- whatever color you want -- and set them up in a showroom. If you've got tons of money, you can buy cars and run a car lot. Or you can be like my buddy Jergens here. [Grubbs rumbled his car to a halt in front of a small brick building.] Jergens runs a toilet store.

Fargo: A toilet store!?

An embarassing afternoon at the toilet store.

Grubbs: There's a lot of money to be made in toilets. Let's go inside.

[The toilet store has plush carpeting in the lounge, along with overstuffed furniture and a complimentary espresso machine. Nearby there are several small showrooms, each with different wall and floor patterns, displaying models of toilets.]

Fargo: This is incredible. A store that sells nothing but toilets, and it's packed. Are Sims really into buying toilets?

Grubbs: It's all about presentation. Sims will buy anything if you sell it right. That's where the sales talent comes in. A higher sales talent means you can convince people to buy stuff even when it's marked way up, or you can always use the "hard sell" to get someone to buy something they don't want (although their customer loyalty will go down.) Jergens is one of the best salespeople in town. Right Jergens?

Jergens: Toilets are the new personal statement. You can tell where a man's been... by where he goes.

Fargo: We're leaving.

Grubbs: The problem with selling toilets is that Sims keep wanting to use them, so they keep shooshing each other out of the showroom.

Being crafty...

Grubbs: Instead of buying stuff, you can also make stuff to sell. Your profit margins might be better. Did you hear that? I just dropped the words "profit margins." In a sentence!

Fargo: You've come so far, so fast. Show me a store where they build things!

Grubbs: Right next door here is W.T.F.Schwartz, started by another buddy of mine. He custom-makes toys for small children.

Fargo: How does that work?

Make your own merch with the Toymaking station.

Grubbs: First, you invest in a toymaking workbench. Then you ... sit at it. Without any toymaking talent, all you can build are simple little toys. Like ... a brick. With a face on it. I'm not making that up. But, as you use the bench, your talent will go up, and you can make more and more complicated things. Like Jack-in-the-boxes. Or ... spinny ... things. They keep kids entertained for hours, and by 'kids,' I mean 'me.'

Fargo: Does it cost anything to use?

Grubbs: Yeah, whenever you build something you have to pay a little for the materials. But the stuff you make can sell for a lot more. You can set the colors, set the price, even name the products. In fact, all you really need is a workbench and a cash register and you should be good to go.

Fargo: What else can you craft?

Grubbs: [Getting back into his car and tearing off across the neighborhood] There's a flower-arranging station where you can make and sell flower boquets. And an electronics workbench, where you can make ROBOTS!

Fargo: Nothing could possibly go wrong, there. But you mentioned there were four kinds of businesses?

Grubbs: Right! I talked about retail. The second way you can make some cold cash is with an "Electono-ticket" machine. It's what we in the industry call "The Schizz."

Fargo: You and your complex jargon. How does it work?

Grubbs: So you put the electrono-ticket machine at the door to your pad and you set the price for admission. Sims will walk by, and if your place looks cool enough, they'll fork over the cash just to come in.

Fargo: So you could build ... a nightclub?

Grubbs: Or a gym. Or a poker casino. Or a public pool. Or a library. Or, like, a building that's like a library, but instead of books, it's filled with electric guitars. We could call it... "The Rockurary."

Fargo: You think Sims would pay to get into a place like that?

Grubbs: Sims just wanna have fun, dawg.

Good eats...

Fargo: Tell me about the third type of business!

Grubbs: [Driving by a fancy eatery.] You can run a restaurant like those found in the Night Life expansion. It's not easy. You need to have a kitchen, and then you need to hire chefs, hosts, and a maître d'. Of course, you can be any of those positions -- you can work in the kitchen or sit people down yourself -- but it's easier to hire other people.

Fargo: Sounds fun, though.

Grubbs: I tried it, but nobody wanted to pay top dollar for macaroni or hot dogs.

Open for Business adds a shopping district to the game.

Fargo: So that leaves a fourth type of business?

Grubbs: [Pulling back into his driveway, bringing his car to a shuddering halt.] We're here! My business is the fourth kind: you can charge Sims per item use. So, for instance, they can come into my boutique for free, but I charge them whenever they use my salon chair.

You can set your own prices for services.

Fargo: Sweet. Can you combine business types?

Grubbs: Yeah, that's no problem! I'm thinking of adding a magazine rack and a cash register to my store, so people can buy stuff while they wait. If I get popular enough, I might even charge admission! Or, I might charge people to use the restroom!

Fargo: You don't seriously expect people to pay to use the potty?

Grubbs: They will if I install one of Jergen's solid gold toilets.•

Stick around GameSpy for the next episode of The SimPrentice!