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has higher margin than newspapers, for example. On the other hand, if you can't sell enough of them, you don't make money either. Not all are good sellers.
TIP: Go for medium-rent districts. Low-rent districts are easier to start, but their profit margins are lower as well.
High-rent districts are too expensive to get in.
TIP: Control utilities. They minimize your operating costs (you don't pay yourself) and gain you extra income.
Controlling utilities will give you a lot of income right about 6AM, offset-ing a lot of the restocking charges.
TIP: Once you control utilities, go for the railroads. The more you control, the more money you make at the beginning.
10 More hints and tips
10.1 INTERFACE
TIP: Use TAB key to switch between city and block view, sure beats clicking the "switch view" button.
TIP: Use the "adjust price" button to call up the price viewer. Use the "business scroller" there to flip through your businesses. It's much easier than click from block to block then business to business.
10.2 WHERE TO START BUILDING
TIP: Pick the block with the largest apartment, if there are apartments on the map. You get more initial customers that way.
TIP: If there are no existing apartments, start in the low- rent districts, as the rents there and building costs are cheaper. Build apartment there, then expand your businesses.
10.3 WHAT BUSINESS TO BUILD
TIP: Use a LOT of polling. Check every single block with an apartment building (flashing blocks in the city view, poll mode) in the districts you want to target. However, it'll take several hours for the apartments to get their tenants.
TIP: If there's no residents yet, build bakery and newspaper stands. Those are the usual needs. Some will also want clothing store.
TIP: In general, food items are good sellers, though they generate minimal profit. You need to be pretty big to sell enough of those to make big money.
TIP: Balance between day and night business. Remember to have night retail ready before 6PM comes along.
TIP: Day business should be small to medium size, as there would be MORE of them, except the stuff in HEAVY demand.
Stuff like meat, fish, fruit and veg, bread, and such are usually in demand. Still, check the poll.
TIP: Night business tends to be large. Indeed, the smallest
Ballroom and Theater is size 8. Initially, you may want to stick to the smaller night business, like Bar, Restaurant, and Cinema. Those are usually hot sellers, and generate most of your profit (if you priced them right). Indeed, don't build Ballroom and Theater until you see more than 15 demand for each.
TIP: Some businesses do NOT generate profit (at least for me). Businesses like furniture, clothing, books, hardware, jewelry, and such don't generate much profit, as they are high priced and any sales variance is bound to affect them severely. Spoilage is a major issue with these high-cost businesses. You may want to avoid those initially and concentrate on the businesses that you can just plop down and expect to make money (i.e. the ones with default pricing set right).
10.4 WHAT SIZE BUSINESS TO BUILD
TIP: Read the poll and consider how many people from THAT
BLOCK needs. Use that as a general guideline. Multiply that by 1.5 or 2. That's the size you should aim for as stock quantity.
For example, say 24 people at this apartment want a bakery.
I would probably build a 36 or 48-capacity bakery, just to make sure I can handle all requests.
For cheaper / smaller stuff, I would go for 2x. For expensive items like furniture, jewelry, and such, I may just go for 1x.
Read the store description in the manual, look for the "stock capacity". Divide the stock quantity by stock capacity will give you the store size.
If you're not sure, just build small, a 2 space, 3 space, or 4-space store is sufficient for day retail. Not all stores must be Walmart-sized. Later, you'll know what size to build.
TIP: While extra stock do spoil at midnight, you don't NEED to stock a store to full capacity, whereas if you have a small store to start with, you do sell out, but you can't make enough money! Cut down the stock to prevent losing lots of money!
TIP: Consider, if possible, "down-the-road" consequences.
You can only refurbish a store to one that has the same footprint.
10.5 PRICING
TIP: Use the graph to judge profitability. Ideally, you should make money the first year, and every year. This may not always be possible, due to special circumstances like competition, chance cards, and so on.
TIP: Remember the old joke that goes like this, "I know we're losing money on every sale, but we'll make it up in volume"? Before you adjust prices, first calculate how low of a price CAN you set.
For example, let's say you have a clothing store with daily cost of $200 (rent, utilities, etc.), averages 15 sales a day. That means you need to price the clothes at 200 / 15, or 13.4 (rounded up) to break even. If you tried 13.5 and you STILL can't increase sales enough (beyond 15) to make a profit, it may be time to close the store.
TIP: Don't lose money in a store. You lose the time spent building it, the construction cost, the demolition cost, the actual money lost, AND the lead it gives to your opponents!
TIP: Pricing strategy is simple. If the store did not start at 9AM, ignore the sales that day as it does not reflect a full day's sales. Check how many you sold vs. how many you stocked. Calculate the sales to stock ratio. For example, say you have a 24 stock newsstand, and you sold 20. Your s-t- s ratio is 83.3%
100% Well done! Try raising prices 5% and see how the market reacts
90-99% Nice, drop price 5%, get that full 100% sellout, and leave it there this time.
80-89% Reduce prices another 10 to 15%, you are getting close.
50-79% This is not good, reduce price by 30% to 50%, you are getting SIGNIFICANT spoilage and you need to reduce that
ASAP.
0-49% This is really bad, reduce prices DRASTICALLY, right near the break-even point, then start up from there.
TIP: The default price is NOT necessarily the right price.
In fact, for a lot of the stores the default prices are simply TOO HIGH. For things costing less than a dollar, figure you need to sell it at 5x to 10x the cost to be profitable. For things costing more than a dollar each, figure 2x-5x the cost.
Here's a list of prices I found to work so far:
Bakery: default price
Book store: $8-$10
Butcher shop: default price
Cafe: default price
Clothes Store: $9-$15
Dairy Store: default price
Diner: default price
Doctor's office: default price
Electrical Store: $20-$25
Fish Market: default price
Furniture store: $20-$30
Grocery store: default price
Hardware store: $20-$25
Jewelry store: $30-$35
News stand: default price
Souvenir Shop: default?
Toy store: $10 - $15
Ballroom: default
Bar: default
Cinema: default is okay, but may need reduction to as low as
$8
Restaurant: default
Theater: $10-$12
Antique store: $30-35
Ice Cream Parlor: default
Night Club: no data
Pool Hall: a little HIGHER than default is fine, unless you have competition
I have no data yet on further businesses. If you have them, feel free to submit them.
TIP: If you sell out of a commodity, consider raising price by about 5% for next day, and see how the market reacts. If you stop selling out, return the price to normal, and then a dime less ($0.10 less). If you still sell out, consider raising it another 5% or so until you stop selling out.
10.6 ADJUSTMENTS
There are two things you can adjust for a business... you can adjust the price, or the stock level.
First thing you need to do is calculate the breakeven point.
At your present price, multiplied by the daily sales, are you actually making a profit? What is the lowest price you can set to match your daily costs?
The stock level should only be adjusted if you cannot sell
TIP: Go for medium-rent districts. Low-rent districts are easier to start, but their profit margins are lower as well.
High-rent districts are too expensive to get in.
TIP: Control utilities. They minimize your operating costs (you don't pay yourself) and gain you extra income.
Controlling utilities will give you a lot of income right about 6AM, offset-ing a lot of the restocking charges.
TIP: Once you control utilities, go for the railroads. The more you control, the more money you make at the beginning.
10 More hints and tips
10.1 INTERFACE
TIP: Use TAB key to switch between city and block view, sure beats clicking the "switch view" button.
TIP: Use the "adjust price" button to call up the price viewer. Use the "business scroller" there to flip through your businesses. It's much easier than click from block to block then business to business.
10.2 WHERE TO START BUILDING
TIP: Pick the block with the largest apartment, if there are apartments on the map. You get more initial customers that way.
TIP: If there are no existing apartments, start in the low- rent districts, as the rents there and building costs are cheaper. Build apartment there, then expand your businesses.
10.3 WHAT BUSINESS TO BUILD
TIP: Use a LOT of polling. Check every single block with an apartment building (flashing blocks in the city view, poll mode) in the districts you want to target. However, it'll take several hours for the apartments to get their tenants.
TIP: If there's no residents yet, build bakery and newspaper stands. Those are the usual needs. Some will also want clothing store.
TIP: In general, food items are good sellers, though they generate minimal profit. You need to be pretty big to sell enough of those to make big money.
TIP: Balance between day and night business. Remember to have night retail ready before 6PM comes along.
TIP: Day business should be small to medium size, as there would be MORE of them, except the stuff in HEAVY demand.
Stuff like meat, fish, fruit and veg, bread, and such are usually in demand. Still, check the poll.
TIP: Night business tends to be large. Indeed, the smallest
Ballroom and Theater is size 8. Initially, you may want to stick to the smaller night business, like Bar, Restaurant, and Cinema. Those are usually hot sellers, and generate most of your profit (if you priced them right). Indeed, don't build Ballroom and Theater until you see more than 15 demand for each.
TIP: Some businesses do NOT generate profit (at least for me). Businesses like furniture, clothing, books, hardware, jewelry, and such don't generate much profit, as they are high priced and any sales variance is bound to affect them severely. Spoilage is a major issue with these high-cost businesses. You may want to avoid those initially and concentrate on the businesses that you can just plop down and expect to make money (i.e. the ones with default pricing set right).
10.4 WHAT SIZE BUSINESS TO BUILD
TIP: Read the poll and consider how many people from THAT
BLOCK needs. Use that as a general guideline. Multiply that by 1.5 or 2. That's the size you should aim for as stock quantity.
For example, say 24 people at this apartment want a bakery.
I would probably build a 36 or 48-capacity bakery, just to make sure I can handle all requests.
For cheaper / smaller stuff, I would go for 2x. For expensive items like furniture, jewelry, and such, I may just go for 1x.
Read the store description in the manual, look for the "stock capacity". Divide the stock quantity by stock capacity will give you the store size.
If you're not sure, just build small, a 2 space, 3 space, or 4-space store is sufficient for day retail. Not all stores must be Walmart-sized. Later, you'll know what size to build.
TIP: While extra stock do spoil at midnight, you don't NEED to stock a store to full capacity, whereas if you have a small store to start with, you do sell out, but you can't make enough money! Cut down the stock to prevent losing lots of money!
TIP: Consider, if possible, "down-the-road" consequences.
You can only refurbish a store to one that has the same footprint.
10.5 PRICING
TIP: Use the graph to judge profitability. Ideally, you should make money the first year, and every year. This may not always be possible, due to special circumstances like competition, chance cards, and so on.
TIP: Remember the old joke that goes like this, "I know we're losing money on every sale, but we'll make it up in volume"? Before you adjust prices, first calculate how low of a price CAN you set.
For example, let's say you have a clothing store with daily cost of $200 (rent, utilities, etc.), averages 15 sales a day. That means you need to price the clothes at 200 / 15, or 13.4 (rounded up) to break even. If you tried 13.5 and you STILL can't increase sales enough (beyond 15) to make a profit, it may be time to close the store.
TIP: Don't lose money in a store. You lose the time spent building it, the construction cost, the demolition cost, the actual money lost, AND the lead it gives to your opponents!
TIP: Pricing strategy is simple. If the store did not start at 9AM, ignore the sales that day as it does not reflect a full day's sales. Check how many you sold vs. how many you stocked. Calculate the sales to stock ratio. For example, say you have a 24 stock newsstand, and you sold 20. Your s-t- s ratio is 83.3%
100% Well done! Try raising prices 5% and see how the market reacts
90-99% Nice, drop price 5%, get that full 100% sellout, and leave it there this time.
80-89% Reduce prices another 10 to 15%, you are getting close.
50-79% This is not good, reduce price by 30% to 50%, you are getting SIGNIFICANT spoilage and you need to reduce that
ASAP.
0-49% This is really bad, reduce prices DRASTICALLY, right near the break-even point, then start up from there.
TIP: The default price is NOT necessarily the right price.
In fact, for a lot of the stores the default prices are simply TOO HIGH. For things costing less than a dollar, figure you need to sell it at 5x to 10x the cost to be profitable. For things costing more than a dollar each, figure 2x-5x the cost.
Here's a list of prices I found to work so far:
Bakery: default price
Book store: $8-$10
Butcher shop: default price
Cafe: default price
Clothes Store: $9-$15
Dairy Store: default price
Diner: default price
Doctor's office: default price
Electrical Store: $20-$25
Fish Market: default price
Furniture store: $20-$30
Grocery store: default price
Hardware store: $20-$25
Jewelry store: $30-$35
News stand: default price
Souvenir Shop: default?
Toy store: $10 - $15
Ballroom: default
Bar: default
Cinema: default is okay, but may need reduction to as low as
$8
Restaurant: default
Theater: $10-$12
Antique store: $30-35
Ice Cream Parlor: default
Night Club: no data
Pool Hall: a little HIGHER than default is fine, unless you have competition
I have no data yet on further businesses. If you have them, feel free to submit them.
TIP: If you sell out of a commodity, consider raising price by about 5% for next day, and see how the market reacts. If you stop selling out, return the price to normal, and then a dime less ($0.10 less). If you still sell out, consider raising it another 5% or so until you stop selling out.
10.6 ADJUSTMENTS
There are two things you can adjust for a business... you can adjust the price, or the stock level.
First thing you need to do is calculate the breakeven point.
At your present price, multiplied by the daily sales, are you actually making a profit? What is the lowest price you can set to match your daily costs?
The stock level should only be adjusted if you cannot sell
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Sponsors:
Other files from this game:
- Monopoly Tycoon document by System on 14/03/2006, 06:30
Access all levels - Monopoly Tycoon trainer by System on 14/03/2006, 06:30
Money trainer - Monopoly Tycoon FAQ by System on 09/03/2006, 09:50