Open For Business - Help on business please.

PurePants · 23-01-2008, 01:08 AM

First off hey

, I'm getting Open for business this weekend and have been reading about it, and i have a few questions. First is, How does a restaruant go about running, you build tables+chairs, perhaps a bar, toilets, entertainment area perhaps, such as a stage?

So what im asking really is, can someone tell me about thiers, like how they set it up, what staff/how many staff were employed. Any Servo's? and my second question, anyone have a sucessful chain of business'? Like a gym, a bar, and a salon for example, because i read about it before when you hire a manager, which looks really cool. Something to aspire to i guess. Thanks in advance

Jessg6691 · 23-01-2008, 01:33 AM

Open for Business is a pretty good EP in my opinion.
I'm fairly new at the restaurant thing but I'm under the impression that your sim buys the deed to an existing, or custom made community lot which is a restaurant and therefore owns it. When they visit the lot, they can hire employees to be a chef, a waiter/waitress, and the host. You can promote one employee to manager and ask them to look after the store while your sim goes home however I think you have to phone them during the day to check up on the store and possibly return later.

I found the best home business to be selling cats and dogs, its quick and easy. All you need are the container things and a till and you have got a business. It also means no hassle having to remake things, like with florists, an employee will have to remake arrangements whereas with cats and dogs you simply buy them in. I have managed to get my business to rank 9 so far.
Hope this was useful. :]

The Star Hermit · 23-01-2008, 08:34 AM

Open For Business is my favourite expansion.

I've not run a restaurant myself yet, just never got around to it. A restaurant must contain the following:

At least one podium
A food service stove (Tempest cooktop)
At least one dining table and chair, or one counter island piece and stool

The host podium serves as both the nerve center of the restaurant where the menu is established, prices are set, and also where the jobs are assigned.

There are three essential jobs:

Host
Server
Chef

but also the optional:

Greeter

The host mans the podium and is responsible for seating customers, their efficiency is dictated by their sales badge. The server visits the table shortly after the customer is seated, takes their order to the chef and returns with the food. Their efficiency is dictated by their body skill. The chef is stationed at the stove, their efficiency is dictated by their cooking skill. Be careful at which dishes you put on the menu because all the dishes are available for your chef to cook, if your chef doesn't have enough cooking skill points, he/she will burn it all the time. It's best not to add foods to the menu that the chef hasn't the skill for yet.

A restaurant can usually run with just one sim until it reaches the around levels 2-3, in fact the costs of an employee at this stage is probably more than you will take in (higher rank level means more customers). After about rank 3 you should think about hiring employees, or better still have household members assist for free.

There's a lot more detail to it but that should give you the basics to get started (taken from the Prima guide).

Regarding business empires, a single sim can own as many business that you want but you will need managers to run each one so you don't have to visit each daily. Having a manager allows you to call in each day instead, to get some income from the business.

You can only appoint a manager to a business when they have enough talent badges (five points worth). See Guide to Talent Badges for more information on them.

For more general information on Open For Business, see The Sims 2 Open For Business - Frequently Asked Questions.

Good luck.

Ayeffen · 23-01-2008, 11:32 AM

I've never come across the assignment "Greeter".

I just thought it was the main 3 and that was that. I'll have to take another look later.

The Star Hermit · 23-01-2008, 11:53 AM

If prices are set to average or below, there isn't much need for one, plus there isn't actually any way you can assign a sim as a greeter. Whereas the Host seats the customers when they have decided to eat there, the Greeter takes on the role of selling the menu.

According to the Prima guide the customers browse the menu with a sales bar like in a shop, like in shops you can help the sale along by skilful use of sales socials. Since there is no way to assign this task in restaurants, the job of selling must be done by a controllable sim. The logical choice would be the host since they're are in proximity to the browsers and they are already building the sales badge, however hosts don't automatically deviate from seating customers who've already decided that they want to dine, you have to direct them to do it. They would return to their host position afterwards and stay there until you direct them otherwise.

Once your restaurant is successful and paying it's way, you would be in a position to hire someone to become the host and have your controllable sim take on the role of Greeter and do the 'show menu...'interaction etc. As always though, if you have other household members who can help out, it won't cost anything extra.

Ayeffen · 23-01-2008, 12:00 PM

Oh I see what you mean now. I'd just never referred to them as a greeter.

Never mind. xD

PurePants · 29-01-2008, 07:28 PM

I have a small problem, once they have been shown to thier seat, sometimes, about 3 in 4 times, they won't sit down, they just stand at end and then leave, and those that do sit, get thier meal served after been ordered, and then as soon as it comes to the able, they leave, without paying!

Any help on this, really can't figure out why its happening.

callumw1986 · 04-02-2008, 09:43 PM

I wish you could run a restaurant or cafe from home.

Restaurants are probably one of the hardest businesses to make a success of actually, but I've found that it's easier to do well with an existing restaurant than one you've build yourself. Once you're doing well then you can redecorate and make it look nice, which let's face it, the Maxis made ones don't tend to.

23-01-2008, 01:08 AM	#1 (permalink)
PurePants Rookie Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: UK, Near liverpool Age: 18 Posts: 8	Open For Business - Help on business please. First off hey , I'm getting Open for business this weekend and have been reading about it, and i have a few questions. First is, How does a restaruant go about running, you build tables+chairs, perhaps a bar, toilets, entertainment area perhaps, such as a stage? So what im asking really is, can someone tell me about thiers, like how they set it up, what staff/how many staff were employed. Any Servo's? and my second question, anyone have a sucessful chain of business'? Like a gym, a bar, and a salon for example, because i read about it before when you hire a manager, which looks really cool. Something to aspire to i guess. Thanks in advance __________________ Impossible is nothing. Always. But if you can't get watermelon, don't fight for it.

23-01-2008, 08:34 AM	#3 (permalink)
The Star Hermit Fleet Commander Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Sol 3 - Sector 001 Age: 40 Gender: Male Posts: 25,908	Open For Business is my favourite expansion. I've not run a restaurant myself yet, just never got around to it. A restaurant must contain the following: At least one podium A food service stove (Tempest cooktop) At least one dining table and chair, or one counter island piece and stool The host podium serves as both the nerve center of the restaurant where the menu is established, prices are set, and also where the jobs are assigned. There are three essential jobs: Host Server Chef but also the optional: Greeter The host mans the podium and is responsible for seating customers, their efficiency is dictated by their sales badge. The server visits the table shortly after the customer is seated, takes their order to the chef and returns with the food. Their efficiency is dictated by their body skill. The chef is stationed at the stove, their efficiency is dictated by their cooking skill. Be careful at which dishes you put on the menu because all the dishes are available for your chef to cook, if your chef doesn't have enough cooking skill points, he/she will burn it all the time. It's best not to add foods to the menu that the chef hasn't the skill for yet. A restaurant can usually run with just one sim until it reaches the around levels 2-3, in fact the costs of an employee at this stage is probably more than you will take in (higher rank level means more customers). After about rank 3 you should think about hiring employees, or better still have household members assist for free. There's a lot more detail to it but that should give you the basics to get started (taken from the Prima guide). Regarding business empires, a single sim can own as many business that you want but you will need managers to run each one so you don't have to visit each daily. Having a manager allows you to call in each day instead, to get some income from the business. You can only appoint a manager to a business when they have enough talent badges (five points worth). See Guide to Talent Badges for more information on them. For more general information on Open For Business, see The Sims 2 Open For Business - Frequently Asked Questions. Good luck. __________________ Currently Playing: The Sims 3

23-01-2008, 11:32 AM	#4 (permalink)
Ayeffen EA Veteran Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: London, England Age: 19 Gender: Male Posts: 19,777 Blog Entries: 2	I've never come across the assignment "Greeter". I just thought it was the main 3 and that was that. I'll have to take another look later. __________________ A y e f f e n

23-01-2008, 11:53 AM	#5 (permalink)
The Star Hermit Fleet Commander Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Sol 3 - Sector 001 Age: 40 Gender: Male Posts: 25,908	If prices are set to average or below, there isn't much need for one, plus there isn't actually any way you can assign a sim as a greeter. Whereas the Host seats the customers when they have decided to eat there, the Greeter takes on the role of selling the menu. According to the Prima guide the customers browse the menu with a sales bar like in a shop, like in shops you can help the sale along by skilful use of sales socials. Since there is no way to assign this task in restaurants, the job of selling must be done by a controllable sim. The logical choice would be the host since they're are in proximity to the browsers and they are already building the sales badge, however hosts don't automatically deviate from seating customers who've already decided that they want to dine, you have to direct them to do it. They would return to their host position afterwards and stay there until you direct them otherwise. Once your restaurant is successful and paying it's way, you would be in a position to hire someone to become the host and have your controllable sim take on the role of Greeter and do the 'show menu...'interaction etc. As always though, if you have other household members who can help out, it won't cost anything extra. __________________ Currently Playing: The Sims 3

23-01-2008, 12:00 PM	#6 (permalink)
Ayeffen EA Veteran Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: London, England Age: 19 Gender: Male Posts: 19,777 Blog Entries: 2	Oh I see what you mean now. I'd just never referred to them as a greeter. Never mind. xD __________________ A y e f f e n

23-01-2008, 01:33 AM	#2 (permalink)
Jessg6691 Rookie Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: England Age: 18 Posts: 78	Open for Business is a pretty good EP in my opinion. I'm fairly new at the restaurant thing but I'm under the impression that your sim buys the deed to an existing, or custom made community lot which is a restaurant and therefore owns it. When they visit the lot, they can hire employees to be a chef, a waiter/waitress, and the host. You can promote one employee to manager and ask them to look after the store while your sim goes home however I think you have to phone them during the day to check up on the store and possibly return later. I found the best home business to be selling cats and dogs, its quick and easy. All you need are the container things and a till and you have got a business. It also means no hassle having to remake things, like with florists, an employee will have to remake arrangements whereas with cats and dogs you simply buy them in. I have managed to get my business to rank 9 so far. Hope this was useful. :]

29-01-2008, 07:28 PM	#7 (permalink)
PurePants Rookie Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: UK, Near liverpool Age: 18 Posts: 8	I have a small problem, once they have been shown to thier seat, sometimes, about 3 in 4 times, they won't sit down, they just stand at end and then leave, and those that do sit, get thier meal served after been ordered, and then as soon as it comes to the able, they leave, without paying! Any help on this, really can't figure out why its happening. __________________ Impossible is nothing. Always. But if you can't get watermelon, don't fight for it.

04-02-2008, 09:43 PM	#8 (permalink)
callumw1986 Rookie Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 104	I wish you could run a restaurant or cafe from home. Restaurants are probably one of the hardest businesses to make a success of actually, but I've found that it's easier to do well with an existing restaurant than one you've build yourself. Once you're doing well then you can redecorate and make it look nice, which let's face it, the Maxis made ones don't tend to.