Perks are part of what makes successfully running a business worthwhile. Another part is making money. Perks help you become a better business owner and are earned from increasing the level of your business and you are informed every time you have earned a new one.

The level of your business is determined by the amount of customer loyalty points. If your customers don't like your business, then you won't get to see any message telling you that you can choose another perk.

There are twentyfive perks in all, divided into five five-rung ladders and in order to get up a ladder, you have to start at the bottom. Obviously. The categories are Connections, Perception, Cash, Wholesale and Motivation.

Connections start with you getting a notable reputation and this gives you a bit of a bonus to all relationships with new customers. At the top of this ladder is Power Network, which gives a new interaction of "Talk...Power Network", which is very powerful and gives you a whole world of contacts. Well, almost a whole neighborhood.

Perception helps you with customers from having new interactions to help you assess a customer's mood through finding out what they are most interested in through to Manipulation which allows you even to sell shop-soiled snow to an inuit. The sale may be automatic but you can lose some customer loyalty this way.

Cash is simply that. A cash infusion into your company. The LeTourneau Prize is at the lowest rung of that ladder and gives you §1,000. Thrilling. I have not gone any higher up that ladder in order to find out what the Valued Client Rebate amounts to. Hopefully, the Will Wright Grant at the top of that ladder is something substantial and is more of a motherlode than a kaching.

Wholesale is useful for businesses that sell already made goods. This ladder gives you a series of better discounts from your wholesalers. From a simple wholesale discount up to being classed as the shark of sharks, your discount gets better the higher you go and this means you can charge higher prices giving you better profits while your customers still believe that they are getting a bargain.

Motivation is a useful perk track for those who have plenty of staff. From being simply influential through giving a motivational speech to being able to rally forth everyone around you, which can be quite exerting, this helps you get the best out of your workforce.

Just to get you thinking, there are twentyfive perks and your business can only go up to Level 10. Can a sim get more than ten business perks?

Yes, he can by either running several businesses or through perks being passed on from a sim who already has some already.

Passing on perks takes time, though. Learning the tricks of the trade cannot be done overnight and an sim who already has some perks cannot pass on everything.

I find this to be a useful feature that allows you to get a bit of a start.

In the next part, we will be looking at the Food Industry and whether "Martha's Kitchen" will be a successful venture..