Sims 4 Passions and Businesses: the complete pack guide — Nordhaven, pottery, tattooing and small business (2025)

Released on March 6, 2025, the expansion pack The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies has remained in the shadow of heavyweights like Lovestruck or High School Years, and that's truly a shame. Because behind its somewhat dull name lies one of the most flexible expansions ever released for Maxis's game: the ability to turn any hobby — pottery, tattooing, baking, or even fitness coaching — into a genuine small business run right from home. Add to that a brand-new Scandinavian world, Nordhaven, and two new crafting skills, and you get a pack that fully deserves a second look. Here's our complete guide to getting the most out of it in 2026.

Businesses & Hobbies: what the pack really changes

Ever since Get to Work in 2015, players had been asking for a more flexible business system. Get to Work required you to buy a dedicated commercial lot, set up a retail store there, and constantly run back and forth between the counter and customers. Businesses & Hobbies takes a radically different approach: here, you register a small business directly tied to one of your Sim's skills or activities, and you can run it right out of your own home. No more need for a separate lot or rigid opening hours — your ceramics workshop, tattoo parlor, or bakery sets up shop in your living room.

The pack also introduces a "hobbies" dimension that encourages your Sims to gather around a shared passion, share their skills, and pass on tips to one another. In practical terms, an expert Sim can give a beginner a boost, which considerably speeds up skill leveling. It's this fusion of personal hobby and paid activity that gives the pack its name and sets it apart from anything that came before.

Nordhaven, the new Scandinavian world

Every expansion brings its own setting, and Businesses & Hobbies is no exception with Nordhaven, a Scandinavian-inspired world bathed in soft light and a warm atmosphere. Think wooden houses, colorful facades lining the water, cobblestone alleys, and that cozy Nordic aesthetic that made the hygge universe such a success. Nordhaven was designed to accommodate small neighborhood shops: the lots there are varied, blending classic residential homes with spots perfectly suited for setting up a picturesque storefront.

Beyond the setting, this world is packed with furniture and build items in a crafted, artisanal style: shop shelves, counters, signs, and soft lighting. Enough to give your workshop a real visual identity, whether you're going for a trendy studio or a rustic shopfront. Nordhaven also works very well as a simple residential world if you're not immediately diving into the pack's business side.

One detail the community has appreciated: Nordhaven leans into neighborhood life. Residents happily walk past your storefront, which naturally fuels customer flow once your business opens. Place your Sim on a well-exposed lot near high-traffic spots, and you'll see foot traffic climb without even having to pay for advertising. Conversely, a workshop tucked away at the end of a dead-end street will require more marketing effort to get noticed.

Opening and running your small business

The heart of the pack is the small business. From your phone or computer in-game, you register your venture, give it a name, then choose the type of business that matches your Sim's passion. The range is wide: a craft workshop, a café or light dining spot, a beauty salon, fitness classes, a shop selling homemade objects, and many other combinations depending on your skills and installed packs.

Once the business is open, customers flock in and you can interact with them in multiple ways: offer a service, take a payment, offer a sample, chat to improve their satisfaction. Your business's reputation rises with successful interactions, and a good rating attracts more people. Conversely, sloppy service drives customers away. The system therefore rewards consistency and attention paid to every visitor.

Where Businesses & Hobbies truly shines is in the granularity of management. You can define how your employees and you yourself behave with customers, adjust peak hours, and monitor real-time metrics such as the day's revenue, the number of customers served and their satisfaction level. This clear view of performance keeps you from flying blind: if sales stagnate, you immediately identify the weak link, whether it's a poorly calibrated price, a workshop that's too dirty or insufficient stock. It's this level of detail that brings the pack closer to a true management game, without ever sacrificing the sandbox spirit that is the DNA of The Sims.

• Choose your specialty: base the business on your Sim's highest skill to sell at the best price.
• Set your prices: too high a margin discourages customers, too low a margin kills profitability — find the balance.
• Take care of the space: decor, cleanliness and comfort directly influence visitors' mood and your sales.

Business perks

As your business thrives, you accumulate points that unlock business perks. These permanent bonuses change the game: reduced crafting time, higher selling prices without hurting customer satisfaction, advertising that boosts foot traffic, or the ability to hire more employees. It's the equivalent of a progression tree: it's up to you to decide whether you favor raw growth, quality of service or cost reduction.

Our recommended priorities for a smooth launch: first the perks that speed up production (so you never run out of stock), then those that boost foot traffic, and finally those that increase margins once your reputation is solidly established. Investing too early in high prices without a solid reputation is the best way to empty your shop.

The Pottery skill: the pottery wheel

The first major crafting addition: the Pottery skill. Your Sim sits down at a pottery wheel, shapes clay and brings bowls, vases, cups and decorative pieces to life. At the early levels, expect mishaps and crude creations; but as you level up the skill, you unlock more ambitious shapes, glazing techniques and the ability to customize colors and patterns.

Pottery is especially profitable once it's tied to a business: each piece can be sold in a shop, displayed to decorate your home, or gifted to strengthen social bonds. It's a virtuous cycle — you craft, you display, you sell, you reinvest. To progress quickly, churn out small pieces at the start (they bake faster and steadily fill up the bar) before moving on to the large decorative works reserved for higher levels.

• Levels 1-3: simple bowls and cups, lots of failures — that's normal, you're building up experience.
• Levels 4-7: glazing, color choices, first pieces that can be sold at a good price.
• Levels 8-10: large works, high-value masterpieces and unique pieces sought after by customers.

The Tattooing skill: opening your own parlor

Second standout skill: Tattooing. Set up a tattoo chair, welcome a client and get started. The interface lets you choose the placement of the tattoo on the body as well as the design, and the quality of the result depends directly on your Sim's skill level. At early levels, tattoos are pale and sloppy; at higher levels, you create crisp, colorful, long-lasting works that boost satisfaction — and the price.

The tattoo parlor is arguably the most "spectacular" activity in the pack, as it leaves a visible, permanent mark on other Sims in your neighborhood. Combined with the business system, it becomes a solid source of income: set a price per session, take care of your studio's atmosphere, and build a loyal clientele who will come back to complete their sleeves. Be careful, though: a botched tattoo hurts your reputation, so level up the skill on willing guinea pigs before officially opening to the public.

Employees, profitability and day-to-day management

Once your business is up and running, managing it alone quickly becomes exhausting. The pack lets you hire employees to run the register, craft, or maintain the premises while your Sim focuses on higher-value tasks. Each employee has a wage to pay, so keep an eye on your finances to make sure your payroll doesn't outstrip your earnings. A good boss also trains their staff — the more an employee improves, the more profitable they become.

Here's a summary table to visualize the profitability levers of a small business in Businesses & Hobbies:

Businesses & Hobbies or Get to Work: which one to choose?

The question keeps coming up among newcomers, since both expansions touch on entrepreneurship. Yet they don't target the same player. Get to Work (2015) remains unbeatable if you dream of active careers to follow at the office (doctor, scientist, detective) and retail shops on dedicated lots. Businesses and Hobbies (2025) will appeal more to those who want to monetize a craft skill from home, with finer-grained management and two brand-new creative skills.

• Choose Get to Work if you want to follow your Sim to work and run a traditional storefront.
• Choose Businesses and Hobbies if you want a home-based business, pottery, tattooing, and a richer perk system.
• Both complement each other perfectly: nothing stops you from combining an active career with a small passion business in the evenings.

Our tips for launching your business without a false start

To get off on the right foot, don't skip steps. Start by leveling up the chosen skill (pottery or tattooing) to level 5 or 6 before you even register your business: this will help you avoid the mishaps that tank your reputation right from opening day. Build up a small stock of pieces before the big day, keep a reserve of simoleons to absorb the first few loss-making weeks, and don't hire anyone until you have a steady flow of customers.

Finally, make the most of the hobby side of things: bring together other passionate Sims to share your skills, which speeds up progression and creates networking opportunities. A thriving business in Businesses and Hobbies comes down to a skilled Sim, a welcoming lot, and patient management of perks. With these foundations, Nordhaven will quickly become the liveliest neighborhood in your game — and your workshop, the go-to spot in town.