One major drawback to the Get To Work expansion is that our Sims cannot live at their business. The business system in the expansion is also restricted to retail stores only; other types of ownable businesses like cafes, gyms, daycares, nightclubs, etc, aren’t possible.
Of course a modder has fixed that problem. Modders always seem to come to the community’s rescue when EA falls short of expectations. LittleMsSam has a Live in Business mod that will allow your Sims to run bars, cafes, nightclubs, gyms, daycares, pet daycares, and vet clinics from home! The mod also comes with a few optional add-on packages for you to tailor the mod to your liking. It’s also integrated with LittleMsSam’s More Buyable Venues mod. Having both mods installed will add additional functionality to your live-in businesses.
Starting a Live-In Business
Of course, you’ll need to install the mod, first. Head to LittleMsSam’s tumblr page to download the mod. If you’re not sure how to install mods and CC, check out our article, Getting Started with Mods and CC.
The Live-In Business mod is free for everyone to download and most of the business types are base game compatible. The Bar, Nightclub, Daycare, Gym, and Retail live-in businesses are base game compatible. The café live-in business requires Get Together. The pet daycare and vet clinic live-in businesses require Cats & Dogs.
Once the mod is installed correctly, you’re ready to play with your own live-in businesses! The mechanics of each type of business vary a bit depending on the type of business you’re running but they all have the exact same setup process. Build or download your venue and make sure the lot type is set to Residential. This will allow your Sims to move in there. Then in the Lot Traits tab, select the type of business you wish to run.
Once you have the proper lot trait assigned to your residential lot, click on the front door to open and close the business! Make sure you lock doors for any areas that you don’t want customers to enter, like your Sim’s personal living space. That’s it for start-up, you’re all good to go! Read on to learn how to manage each type of business once it’s open to the public.
Live-in Café (Requires Get Together)
Running a live-in café is pretty simple! Once you open up the café, visitors will start spawning on the lot. Make sure your Sim is tending the barista station or hire a barista to tend to the station so your customers can order coffee and pastries.
Your household can collect payment once per day from the computer while the café is open. If you also have the More Buyable Venues mod installed, you will receive additional profits for every drink and food item customers order at your café.
The café can stay open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you want! When you do want to close the café, just click the front door to close the business. Any customers on the lot will leave until you open the business again.
- Optional Add-On: Dog Owner & Dogs as Cáfe Guests (LIB Café Addon)
This addon package will allow dog owners to spawn with their dogs at your café if you’d like to have a pet-friendly café. This addon does require you to have the Cats & Dogs expansion in order to work.
Live-In Bar
Running your own bar is very similar to running your own café and just as simple. Open the bar to have customers start spawning and make sure there is someone tending the bar so customers can order drinks and bar food. Your Sims can tend the bar themselves or hire a bartender to come and manage the bar for you.
Your household can collect payment once per day from the computer while the café is open. If you also have the More Buyable Venues mod installed, you will receive additional profits for every drink and food item customers order at your bar.
The bar can stay open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you want! When you do want to close the bar, just click the front door to close the business. Any customers on the lot will leave until you open the business again.
Live-In Nightclub
Nightclubs are a little different from cafés and bars, but still very straight forward. Open the nightclub to have guests start spawning on the lot. Make sure you have bartenders and entertainers or DJs to keep the guests entertained. Your Sims can provide these services themselves or hire service Sims.
Instead of collecting a daily profit from the business via the computer, each Sim that visits your nightclub will pay a $120 entry fee upon arrival, so the more Sims that visit the nightclub, the bigger the profits. During our playthrough, we had lots of Sims spawn at our nightclub. Probably around 15-20 at any one time.
In addition to the entry fee, you can also receive additional profits for every drink and food item sold at your nightclub if you have the More Buyable Venues mod installed as well.
The nightclub can stay open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you want! When you do want to close the nightclub, just click the front door to close the business. Any customers on the lot will leave until you open the business again.
Live-In Daycare
When you open a live-in daycare, between 5-8 toddlers will spawn right away on the lot. These toddlers must already exist in your world; the game will not create new toddlers to fulfill this role so make sure you’ve populated your worlds with plenty of toddlers to show up at the daycare.
You’ll receive a flat rate of $300 for each toddler that spawns that day at the daycare. While the toddlers are in your care, your Sims can play with them and help them fulfill their needs just like caregivers would do so at a real daycare.
Even though you can keep the daycare open 24/7, toddlers will only stay for a maximum of about 12 hours before they leave.
- Optional Add-On: More Toddlers
This addon package will spawn an additional 3-5 toddlers for Simmers who want an extreme challenge.
Live-In Gym
Opening a live-in gym will allow guests to spawn on the lot and start using any exercise equipment available.
Each Sim that visits your gym will pay a $60 entry fee upon arrival, so the more Sims that visit the gym, the bigger the profits. During our playthrough, we had lots of Sims spawn at our gym. Probably around 15-20 at any one time.
If you also have the More Buyable Venues mod installed, you’ll be able to earn additional profits from your gym by mentoring Sims and offering yoga classes. The Work as Yoga Instructor add-on is required to give yoga classes.
Your gym can stay open 24/7 if you’d like.
- Optional Add-On: Work as Yoga Instructor (LIB Gym Addon)
This add-on package requires the Spa Day game pack. It will add two new options on the yoga mat which can be purchased under Activities & Skills in Build/Buy. 1) Hire Yoga Instructor – Spawns a yoga instructor. You can click on the yoga instructor to have them start 1 of 3 yoga classes. 2) Work as Yoga Instructor – Only available to Young Adult+ Sims with level 8+ Wellness skill. Click on your Sim to start 1 of 3 yoga classes. Your Sim must be the active Sim to see this option. When you are done working as an instructor, click the yoga mat and select Stop Working as Yoga Instructor.
Live-In Pet Daycare (Requires Cats & Dogs)
When you open a live-in pet daycare, between 3-7 dogs and 3-7 cats will spawn right away on the lot. These pets must already exist in your world; the game will not create new pets to fulfill this role so make sure you’ve populated your worlds with plenty of pets to show up at the daycare.
You’ll receive a flat rate of $350 for each pet that spawns that day at the pet daycare. While the pets are in your care, your Sims can play with them, train them, run the obstacle course with them and help them fulfill their needs such as feeding, bathing, brushing, etc.
Even though you can keep the pet daycare open 24/7, pets will only stay for a maximum of about 12 hours before they leave.
Live-In Vet Clinic (Requires Cats & Dogs)
Vet Clinics have some different mechanics than the other venue types. When you open a live-in vet clinic, you don’t need to greet patients before you can treat them like you would on a regular vet clinic lot. When a patient arrives, just click on an exam table to begin your examination of the patient.
Sick pets will spawn with their owners when you have the vet clinic open but it can take some time for them to start showing up. They won’t instantly spawn as soon as you open the vet clinic. When patients arrive, you’ll get a popup with the patient’s name so you know which patient you should see to next. Patients will stay for a while but will eventually leave if you don’t treat them.
You’ll earn anywhere between $500-$1,000 for each patient that you treat.
The live-in vet clinic also allows you to hire and fire employees by clicking on the front door. Teens and older Sims can be hired but keep in mind that if you hire a Sim who already has a job, they may not always show up for work if you have the vet clinic open during their other job’s working hours. We recommend hiring unemployed Sims only to help you with your vet clinic.
Each employee you hire costs a flat rate of $250 a day. They won’t do everything on their own. Mainly, they’ll clean, repair stuff, and keep pet dishes full autonomously and that’s it but you can also direct them to make pet treats so you can stock the vet vending machines with them. Hired employees won’t wear a uniform unless you also have the uniform addon installed. When you close the vet clinic, the employees will not go home on their own. You have to dismiss them for the day by clicking on them. If you decide you don’t want to play with a live-in vet clinic anymore, make sure you fire any current employees.
You can also order vet exam table and surgery machine medicine from the computer at a live-in vet clinic. The items will be delivered in the mail. You can keep the vet clinic open 24/7 if you want to.
- Optional Add-On: Vet Clinic More Patients (LIB Vet Clinic Addon)
This add-on package will allow more patients and pet owners to spawn at your live-in vet clinic.
- Optional Add-On: Vet Clinic Outfit (LIB Vet Clinic Addon)
This add-on package will allow your employees to wear the vet clinic uniform. There’s four colour options; Blue, Brown, Plum, or Mint. Only pick one colour to install!
Live-In Retail Store
Running a live-in retail store with this mod does not require Get To Work. LittleMsSam rewrote the code from the ground up to make it base game compatible, but this means that her live-in retail stores function completely differently from the Get To Work retail system.
When your retail lot is open, between 1-3 customers will spawn per hour while the store is open. Not every customer will buy something. Some may just browse for a while and then leave. Others might make one purchase and leave. Some customers may continue shopping for a while after purchasing an item.
Unlike the Get To Work retail stores, the live-in stores don’t require you to interact with your customers or hire employees. LittleMsSam describes it as a “self service” system, where customers will simply help themselves to what they want, pay, and leave on their own. No need to ring anyone up or make sales.
You can mark up prices on the items in your store and launch ad campaigns by clicking on the front door. The default markup is 0% so you’ll probably want to adjust this to make a profit instead of just breaking even all the time. You can mark up prices to 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% but the higher the markup, the lower the chances of customers making a purchase. It’s a balancing act. Running an ad campaign will bring in an additional 2-6 customers per hour and increase the chances that customers will buy something. A short term ad campaign costs $25/day and lasts for 2 days. A long-term ad campaign lasts for 7 days and you are charged $150 all at once. Since $150 is the equivalent of only 6 days’ worth of advertising, it is actually a bit cheaper in the long run to launch long-term campaigns.
Items must be set for sale for customers to be able to buy them. Click on an item to set it for sale. Only certain items can be set for sale; namely craftables, collectibles, and food. Here is the full breakdown of exactly what can be sold from LittleMsSam’s tumblr page:
From LittleMsSam’s Sims 4 Mods:
Craftables:
- Canvas
Sell your own Paintings in your own Gallery.
- Woodworks
You can sell all Woodworks you can create via the Woodworking Table including Objects made with my More Woodworks Mod. Some Interactions are disabled for self created Instruments so your Sims shouldn’t use them on their own when they are set for Sale.
- Self written Books
Sell your Books directly to Customers. You will find a new “Copy Book” Interaction on your Books which let’s you copy Books a bit cheaper and puts them into your Inventory without your Sim doing the Interaction. Make sure to keep the Original and only sell the Copies! Some Interactions like Read, Put Away are disabled for Books that are set for Sale so you don’t have to worry your Sims or Maids putting them away over and over again.
- Frabricated Items
- Knitted Items
- Carved Pumpkins
- Herbalism Potions
- Realm of Magic Potions
- Toy Robots, Mini Bots & Quadcopter
- Flower Arrangements
- Serums
- Cross Stitchs, Wool
- Canned Goods, Giant Crops Small to Large, Jerry/Jam, Milk, and Eggs
Collectibles:
- Artifacts
- Fossils
- Treasures
- Crystals
- Metals
- Alien
- Space Rocks
- Autographed Objects
- Insects
- Easter Eggs
- My Sims
- Candy Skulls
- City Poster
- Postcards
- Snowglobes
- Frogs
- Space Prints
- Seashells
- Sulani Treasures
- Photos
Consumables:
- Food (including Honey)
Food set for sell will not be touched anymore by your Sims. I recommend to use the Retail Display to keep the Food longer Fresh. High Quality Food will have a higher Chance to be bought. Spoiled Food will not be bought by Customers.
- Fish
Fish can be sold via Aquariums. Put the Fish into a Aquarium and “Set Fish for Sell” via the Interaction on Aquariums. Customers will buy the Fish directly out of the Aquarium. The Retail Display is also available to sell Fish from.
- Harvestables (compatible with CC Plants that have the Func “GardeningSkillPlant” added)
You can sell Harvestables directly from the Bush or Tree. If “Set Harvestables for Sale” is activated on a Bush/Tree Customers will harvest them on their own. If you use my Auto Gardening Mod and have the Auto Harvest enabled Bushes/Trees which are set for Sale will not be harvested.
The “Set for Sale” Interactions except Fish & Harvestables show the Retail Price including the Mark-Up etc., so you can see already what you would get but if you change any setting after setting it for sale the price can change of course.
When an item has been purchased, it won’t be transferred to the customer’s inventory unless you have the Send to Inventory add-on installed. It will just be destroyed. You cannot instantly restock purchased goods; you must craft the item again and reset it for sale.
- Optional Add-On: Send to Inventory
This add-on package will send most purchased items to the customer’s inventory instead of just being destroyed. Namely canvas, woodworks, and books.
- Optional Add-On: Risk of Kleptos
If this add-on is installed, customers that have the kleptomaniac trait may walk out with your items without paying for them.
- Optional Add-On: Egg Box/Milk Container
This add-on package requires the Cottage Living expansion pack. If your Sim has at least 10 eggs or milk in their inventory, you can click the stack to put them in an egg carton or milk crate. The cartons and crates can then be set for sale.
Global Add-On
Some of the live-in businesses have their own individual add-ons that affect only that type of business but the following add-on is a global add-on that affects all live-in businesses.
- Optional Add-On: Less Income
This add-on package will cut all profits from live-in businesses in half. Great for players who like a challenge and don’t want running their business to be too easy.
Our Thoughts
We were very impressed with both the depth and simplicity of this mod. Not only does it allow our Sims to live properly at their business with no annoying workarounds, but it adds so many different types of businesses that aren’t even possible to own with any official DLC.
The functionality of the mod is very simple and easy to use. Very little setup is required to get it going and your customers handle themselves for the most part. We could choose how involved or detached we wanted to be with our businesses. We could have our Sims personally serving coffee at their own café or we could just hire a barista and let the money roll in while we went about our everyday business. The mechanics are both simple and versatile and all the optional add-ons allow us to customize our live-in business experience to our liking and really make it our own.
We definitely recommend this for any mod user’s collection. It really opens up a whole new world of entrepreneurship with almost no learning curve whatsoever. It’s very easy to get a live-in business set up and even easier to manage them.
