Can you actually make money running a restaurant?

[AnnaM]

...because I can't. Maybe I'm just retardo... But I only get single customers who come in, buy one dish, go. The restaurant is now level 9, it runs with only 2 employees (and 2 playables), the cook is lev 10 cooking, the price is Expensive, but it still only makes a ridiculously small amount of money every day.

Am I missing something (leaving aside cheats), or is it really impossible to run a successful restaurant?

[ThyGuy]

As far as I know, as restaurant is tottally useless as a business, which sucks, because I got OFB to have a restaurant.

[J. M. Pescado]

Restaurants can make some money, but are not big earners due to being highly labor intensive. It helps to have Business Runs You, which will greatly improve turnaround time and pointless behaviors like spitting into glasses and loafing about, as well as make it easier for one employee to fill multiple roles, thus reducing costs. And you pretty much *NEED* "Relevant Wages", or everyone and their dog will demand exhorbitant salaries for completely useless skills that will slaughter your profit margin.

[AnnaM]

Ugh, that's what I was afraid of. I have Relevant wages, not BRY though because I don't tend to go for extra automation -- I'm a micromanaging freak 

Thanks for the replies. Running the restaurant is fun, pity about the money. I wish I could get parties of diners rather than just single sims. That would make it more fun, as well as probably generating more income.

[J. M. Pescado]

Ugh, that's what I was afraid of. I have Relevant wages, not BRY though because I don't tend to go for extra automation -- I'm a micromanaging freak 

....but BRY *IS* for micromanaging freaks! It's for people who are such control freaks that not only is it necessary to control every move of a sim, but it is also necessary to control the controls. I can't imagine how you'd run a business of ANY kind without it, since employees are completely unserviceable without its ironfisted, high-efficiency rule. No wonder you can't make a profit. It's a miracle you have ANY business that functions longer than about 10 minutes!

[JadeEliott]

Yeah, that's telling her Pescado. *eyeroll*

Anyway, what I would do is cheat. Yep. I would use Inge's Pay/Clothes Change doors and charge each patron 50 simoleons each time they entered the restaurant, and call it a gratuity. Or a bribe. Whatever.

I would also use it to change them into formal when they entered if it was a fancy restaurant.

Actually, swtich that. I would have them change into formal upon entering, and have them charged 50 a pop when they LEFT, and call THAT the tip.

[starrling]

.... everyone and their dog will demand exhorbitant salaries for completely useless skills ...

Hey!  I thought you said there were no pets?

[J. M. Pescado]

.... everyone and their dog will demand exhorbitant salaries for completely useless skills ...

Hey!  I thought you said there were no pets?

Not THAT kind of dog, you stupid giraffe.

[starrling]

Watch it, or I'll stick out my giraffe tongue and scrape off a few layers of skin 

[J. M. Pescado]

Watch it, or I'll stick out my giraffe tongue and scrape off a few layers of skin 

I never bathe. Do you really want to eat that?

[vaughje]

*vomits*

[JadeEliott]

Wow. The visual on that. Wow. Ow. My eyes.

[starrling]

Sorry, vaughje and Jade - it was leftover from a news story when I was young.  Some young girl thought it would be fun to feed the nice giraffe in the zoo.  The poor animal stuck its tongue out to grab the morsel and took off a bunch of the kid's skin.  Bloody.

However, I now see the error of my ways in threatening Pescado.   

*ptooey

[J. M. Pescado]

It doesn't help that my skin is both immensely thick and ablative, so when you try to lick it, you just get a mouthful of nasty dirty skinflakes.

[Katze]

Oh yucky.

[J. M. Pescado]

Yes, I know, my biology is absolutely revolting, and I like it that way.

[Avalikia]

Go to a college level health class sometime; you'll discover that the biology of every human body is absolutely revolting.

[IgnorantBliss]

Hmm, I don't consider human biology "absolutely revolting".

[J. M. Pescado]

Go to a college level health class sometime; you'll discover that the biology of every human body is absolutely revolting.

Yes, but I'm revolting even by normal-people-standards.

[Liss]

I've had success with a restaurant/venue.  They go to the ticket thing, pay, then stand in line for food.  Then they play piano or have a drink at the bar.  That's actually been one of my favorite businesses.  I don't like that it takes a bajillion sims to run a restaurant though. 

In my opinion, venues are the WORST.  It takes for-freakin-ever to build up the stars. 

[J. M. Pescado]

I've had success with a restaurant/venue.  They go to the ticket thing, pay, then stand in line for food.  Then they play piano or have a drink at the bar.  That's actually been one of my favorite businesses.  I don't like that it takes a bajillion sims to run a restaurant though. 

In my opinion, venues are the WORST.  It takes for-freakin-ever to build up the stars.

There's a trick to that: Wait until a customer is right about to make the purchase, then queue up 8x Hard Sell or 8x Dazzle. Your sim will proceed to hammer the new victim with a barrage of sales socials after he makes the ticket swipe. It will, of course, not sell anything, as your business has nothing to sell and your customer has already finished buying, but you still get the +loyalty boost (or penalty, if it fails), for doing it. Note that you will not receive or lose any customer loyalty for badgering a customer BEFORE he has purchased a ticket, which makes it an ideal spot to practice newbie sales on, especially if you temporarily set the price so ridiculously high no one will ever buy it, so you can pummel them over and over.

[Immy]

.... everyone and their dog will demand exhorbitant salaries for completely useless skills ...

Hey!  I thought you said there were no pets?

Damn you! You've been me to it!

[GayJohnScarritt]

Quote from: Liss on August 15, 2006, 08:42:04 PM

   In my opinion, venues are the WORST.  It takes for-freakin-ever to build up the stars.

Maybe i'm looking at the situation all wrong, but ticket Venues for me are the easiest to run and to get customer loyalty stars from.   One caveat of course, they aren't for making tons of money, just for the Business Perks.   I just buy a small community lot, build a small building, put in a few things to play with then have the owner go into a locked room, meditate, put the game on triple speed, then walk away.   Boring?   Yes, but it's effective.

[linolino]

maybe you should start a restaurant only after you already have some ranks in your business.

Start as a general business, wholesale or just that electrono ticket machine, to raise some ranks. then change that to a restaurant.

also you can offer some different options in your restaurant. maybe build a little shop in it.

and what i am thinking that will solve better the problem is that maybe using the intProp maxNumOfVisitingSims # with a high number like 50 will result in more customers showing in your community restaurant

[dizzy]

You also need high turn around (i.e. bad decor, uncomfortable chairs, rude employees) for a restaurant to be profitable.