#5
31st May 2013 at 5:41 PM
If I have a one-Sim shop, I start out with cheap items and wait until at least one Sim has a bronze cashier talent badge before expecting anything above about $500 to sell. If your shop has a severe reputation problem, it may be worth going back to basics. Reduce the stock to one cheap item, and focus on completing repeated sales of that item. Provided the shop has fun activities (ideally group activities like a TV, radio or hot tub) that other visitors can do while awaiting a restock, it will allow you to get a good rhythm going. It won't rake in the Simoleons, but it should allow at least some money to be made. You can always expand your stock once you've found a way to get this particular business to please its customer base.
For similar reasons, I don't allow more than 3 items in a one-Sim shop until the Sim has a bronze sales talent because otherwise each customer requires too much attention.
I prefer there to be multiple Sims working in a shop. Even if one of them is a child, he or she can entertain/talk to customers and keep them from seething while the teen/adult/elder who owns the business works the tills (and, when there's time, sells and restocks product).
nikel23's point about ofbfixes being useful is seconded. It cuts out some of the stranger problems with running a business.