The Sims 4 Business and Hobbies pack has arrived and the possibilities have become endless for small business ideas for The Sims 4! Specifically, for new ways to force your sim to go broke. I’m kidding…sort of. Let’s face it, finding ways for your sim to entertain themselves, and spend their hard earned money, has been an aspiration of all of ours for years. Now, our sims can finally open their very own small businesses. If you are asking yourself: what small businesses can I create in The Sims 4? This is the list for you!
After playing with the pack and experimenting, I’ve brainstormed a list full of fun business ideas to expand your neighborhood!
Family Entertainment Venues as Small Business Ideas for The Sims 4
Sims now have the ability to pay to enter venues! Whether as a one time fee or by the hour, there’s plenty of options for your sim to entertain themselves and their kids.
Animal Petting Zoo
This has become my personal favorite since buying the pack. Set up your farm and charge admission to families, allowing them to play with the animals and care for them. Not only is it adorable to watch the children and toddlers play, the adult visitors feed and clean them so you don’t have to. You hardly need to hire any staff, unless you want to double this as a daycare!
Skating Rink or Roller Skating Rink
Charge sims to enter and let them spin around the rink in their skates! Combine the lot with a small arcade full of game tables or even a bowling alley to really complete the 1970’s roller rink theme!
Bowling Alley and Arcade
Make an entire gaming venue complete with bowling, arcade and table top games, ping pong, and maybe even a bubble blowing area in the back. Don’t forget to serve snacks and charge for those on top of everything else too!
Children’s Museum
Send your kids off to play at the ultimate venue designed just for them. Include numerous kids activities, playground equipment, you name it — this place has it. Just be sure to put the ball pit and toddler accessible items on the ground floor so they don’t have to crawl their way up the stairs! If you really ambitious, double the place as a daycare center and let the employees watch the kids while you go have some fun elsewhere!
Pool and Waterpark
Create a fun outdoor waterpark venue complete with swimming pools (maybe throw some jet skis in it?), hot tubs, waterslides, and a splash pad! After all, your sims deserve to have some water fun just as much as your owners deserve to make a profit off of it!
Theater Venues as Small Business Ideas for The Sims 4
Movie Theater
Set up a concessions area with a barista cafe stand, some make-your-own popcorn machines and a separate theater dedicated to sims watching movies while eating their popcorn. Don’t forget to use the platform tool to add in some stadium seating!
Stand-Up Comedy Club
Set up a stage and a bar and charge sims to come in and watch the local comedians tell jokes…or, let your customers hop up on stage and attempt their own jokes! If they are really terrible, you can always teach a comedy class to help them get better.
Performing Arts Theater (or Open Mic Night)
Hire performers for the staff or just let the customers come in and show off their many talents (or lack of). Whether they want to perform a song, an acting routine, comedy, or even a kids puppet show, the options are endless.
Live Music Venue
Send your sim off scouting for talent at the award shows and then after schmoozing, hire the top celebrities to perform at your very own live music venue! Set up a stage, a dance floor, and a bar (or two…after all, you may want a VIP area!). Make sure to set the stage area so that only the employees can jump on!
Young Adults and Over Venues as Small Business Ideas for The Sims 4
Spooky House of Horrors
If you live on a haunted lot, why not make it profitable? Charge sims to enter your spooky haunted home, get tarot readings, and perform a seance. The ghost staff can possess objects scare everyone. I thought for sure this would fail but as it turned out, my sim kept getting gifts from the customers thanking him for getting a good scare.
Nectar Bar and Tasting Room
If your sim creates nectar, why not sell some bottles in a store and set up a separate “tasting only” room where customers are charged by entry? Let them try exclusive bottles of the nectar or even teach a class to them on how to make their own!
Underground Poker Club
Let your sims get into the underworld by sneaking into a backroom poker club specifically for evil and mean sims. Charge outrageous prices for sims by the hour as they sit there, play cards, and drink.
Bubble Blowing Lounge
It’s time to chill! Charge sims for using the bubble blowing machine, having drinks with friends, and playing some various games!
“Speed” Dating Venue
Create a safe space for singles to come and mingle! Let them play games of Woo-Who!? with each other, learning all about each other’s turn-offs and turn-ons, and encourage plenty of romantic interactions too!
Fight Club
Set up a venue dedicated to sims fighting it out with one another while visitors stand around and cheer! Just remember: What happens in fight club, stays in fight club.
Hotels, Retreats, and More as Small Business Ideas for The Sims 4
Bed and Breakfast
The features of a small business include charging sims to sleep, eat, and shower, so why not turn your home into a bed and breakfast with spare rooms for guests to sleep in and some other fun activities around the lot like painting in the sun room or yoga in the back garden? Just make sure to make the kitchen communal so your sim can enjoy meals with their guests.
Hostel
Maybe you don’t want a place that’s nearly as comfy as a bed and breakfast. Instead, start a hostel where you charge sims for just sleeping in a tiny room!
Five Star Hotel
If you really want to up your hotel game, charge sims to sleep and stay at your venue while also offering top tier services like meals, a bar, a pool and spa facility, or maybe even some classes for special business retreats! The sky is the limit!
Camping Retreat and Observatory
Charge sims to look up at the stars through the telescope and then spend their time sleeping in tents, sitting by the fire pit, and fishing in the pond.
Yoga Retreat
Create an escape for sims with a full spa facility, beautiful outdoor yoga classes, and comfortable rooms to sleep in. R&R awaits!
Practical Facilities as Small Business Ideas for The Sims 4
Recording Studio
While our sims can’t actually record music, you can certainly charge sims to come inside, sing on the microphones and record tracks while your sim or employees mentor them in their skills!
Laundromat
If your sims have a laundry basket but no space for a laundry machine (or maybe they live off the grid and are tired of doing it all by hand!), build a laundromat where you charge sims to do laundry and maybe encourage them to a read a book or buy a cup of coffee while they wait.
Tutoring Center
Send your children to after school tutoring where they can do their homework and be encourages to use the science table or grow other important skills.
Cooking Classes
If your sim has been living off of pizza deliveries, it’s time they get in the kitchen and learn how to cook for themselves! Or, maybe they want to be the next top chef…or they’re just looking for a fun date night activity! No matter their reasoning, a school that teaches your sim a vital skill to encourage less kitchen fires seems like a great idea!
General Classes Venue
Hire sims to mentor in different skills! Whether it’s woodworking, flower arranging, painting, or any other skill, your sim can finally have the opportunity to improve their skills without having to do it all on their own.
Daycare
Watch over the little ones of the sims world by letting their parents drop them at the doorstep and run for the hills. Just make sure you have enough caregivers to look after them!
Unethical Scam as a Small Business in The Sims 4
Butler Training Facility (aka the Free Employee Scam)
Who needs to hire a butler or a maid…or a personal chef for that matter? Turn your home into a training ground for butlers and earn money off of everyone doing everything for you. Visitors will come to do the most exciting things in life: clean, cook, repair objects, tend the garden, and care for the animals! Maybe set up a spa in the back for yourself while your customers do all of the heavy lifting!
Museums as Small Business Ideas for The Sims 4
Archeology Museum
If your sim has spent their days treasure hunting in the jungle, now they can charge sims to view all of their treasure! If that’s not quite paying the bills, you can also host an archeology class to show other sims how to get and authenticate their own treasure.
Collection Museum
Showcase your life’s work of finding gems, frogs, or whatever other collectibles you’ve been gathering. Whether you have a museum dedicated to frogs, or photographs of Travis Scott, your sim can show off what truly matters to them.
Art Museum
Your artists are finally getting the chance to shine! No longer do they have to choose between selling their art or keeping it for nothing. Now, they can plaster it all over the walls and charge sims just for staring at it! Isn’t life grand?
This is only a handful of ideas regarding what you can experience with The Sims 4 Business and Hobbies pack. As long as you think outside the box, the sky really is the limit. What type of small business will you be starting?
If you’re looking for other ways to expand your gameplay using features from other Sims 4 packs, be sure to check out my other blogs including:
- The Best Retail Shops to Build in The Sims 4 with Get to Work
- Creating the Best Clubs in The Sims 4 Get Together
- 42 Delicious Cuisines for The Sims 4 Dine Out
- Check out all of my gameplay tips and guides now!
