Starting a Business
Creating a business requires holding a role that grants the right to own a business, typically the default Adult role, or a custom role the Mayor has granted that right to. Only Seedlings can directly own a business (societies, departments, and groups cannot).
Open the Business Panel (right sidebar) and click "Create Account".
Choose which of your Seedlings owns the business, pick a name, and pay the creation fee from that Seedling's wallet. The business wallet is separate from your Seedling's personal wallet and is shared across all your business branches.
Acquire a Business Branch: buy a plot or building from the Real Estate Market using your business wallet (ownership follows the paying wallet), construct a new building on an empty plot via the Land Planner, rent a building with the business wallet, or reassign a plot/building your Seedling already owns to the business.
The branch gives you an inbox and outbox for deliveries and unlocks the business management tabs: Overview, Employment, Production, Services, Market, Inventory, Contracts, and Deliveries.
Businesses are organizations with their own roles and permissions: as owner you can create roles and assign them to employees to control what they may do, such as managing production, accessing storage, or spending business funds.
Ways a Business Makes Money
Hire employees and run production, then sell the goods.
Run a service location (cafe, gym, spa) offering advertised services that visiting Seedlings pay for, plus an optional entry fee. Set it up in the Services tab: start the location, choose services and prices, set opening hours and entry fee, and manage guest room access.
Deliver items for other Cultivators and get paid per distance.
Trade on the Marketplace with Sell Orders, Buy Orders, and Contracts.
Own plots and buildings, rent them out, or resell them.