The Sims 4 Now Lets You Charge For Basically Any Hobby
Get to Work let your Sim open a store and sell objects off a shelf. Businesses & Hobbies does something stranger: it lets your Sim charge money just for existing near other people while doing a hobby. Run a painting class. Charge admission to a gym. Sell tickets to watch your Sim tell jokes in a back alley. None of that required a "store" in the traditional sense before this pack — now it's the entire point.
The small business system is the real headline feature of Businesses & Hobbies, and it works differently enough from Get to Work's retail model that it's worth understanding on its own terms.
Small Businesses Sell Activities, Not Just Objects
Get to Work's retail businesses were built around inventory — stock shelves, price items, ring up customers. The small business system flips that around: instead of monetizing objects, it monetizes activities. A Sim can charge customers to use gym equipment, attend a class, listen to a live performance, or simply hang out at a venue built around a specific hobby.
That distinction matters because it opens the door to businesses that never made sense under the old system. A comedy club where customers pay a cover charge. A tattoo parlor charging per design. A pottery studio that sells lessons instead of finished mugs. Practically any hobby or skill in the game can be wrapped into a paid activity, using the new Ticket Kiosk to decide whether customers pay a flat one-time fee or an hourly rate.
Two New Skills Anchor The Pack
Businesses & Hobbies ships with two brand-new skills built specifically to be sold this way: Pottery and Tattooing.
Pottery has its own hands-on loop — Sims shape pieces on a Pottery Wheel, glaze them in a range of finishes, and fire them in a Pottery Kiln. At higher skill levels, Sims unlock Kintsugi, the Japanese technique of repairing broken ceramics with gold seams, turning damaged pieces into higher-value finished ones. Everything made can be sold, gifted, or just used to decorate a home.
Tattooing goes further into Create-A-Sim territory than most skills do. Sims can ink pre-made designs, freehand a custom tattoo directly in CAS, or dedicate a design to another Sim. Custom tattoos can be uploaded to the Gallery, and unlike the game's older tattoo limitations, layering is now supported — so a Sim isn't stuck with just one design per body part anymore.
Mentorship Is Its Own Quiet System
Sitting alongside the money-making side is a mentor system that doesn't have to be monetized at all. Sims who reach high levels in a skill can become mentors, teaching others through Hobby Meetups or by hosting classes and lectures. The system comes with its own dedicated perks, separate from the perks tied to running a business, which means a Sim can build an entire second gameplay loop around passing skills down rather than profiting from them directly.
The World Is Built Around Showing Off
Nordhaven, the pack's new world, leans hard into the "hobbies are social" idea. Spread across two neighborhoods, it's designed around Hobby Meetups — festival-style events where Sims with shared interests gather specifically to socialize and practice together. It's less a backdrop and more an engine for pushing Sims toward exactly the kind of activity-based businesses the pack is built around.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to buy a commercial lot to run a small business?
No — small businesses can be run out of a Sim's own home, or from a dedicated Small Business Venue lot if a player wants a separate location.
Can I hire employees for a small business?
Yes. Players can hire outside candidates or staff the business entirely with members of their own household.
Is candy-making a real skill in this pack?
No — despite candy-making equipment appearing in trailers, EA never confirmed it as a standalone skill; it functions as a craftable object rather than its own hobby system.
How is this different from Get to Work's retail stores?
Get to Work businesses center on selling physical inventory from a storefront. Businesses & Hobbies is built around charging for activities and experiences instead, using nearly any hobby or skill as the product.
Sources
Details referenced here come from EA's official pack pages and community guides rather than in-game tutorials, since the small business system's flexibility isn't fully spelled out anywhere in-game.
Last updated: September 2026