Given unlimited qualifications, it looks like I would want to build store after store after store. A store is easy to make profitable, and does not require any true initial investment in order to succeed. The investment is an every-week rent payment instead of a one-time building payment.
Factories and livestock raising, however, are limited by capital outlay. I cannot build as many as I would like to. But this begs the question - what rate of return is good for a factory or livestock raising? Obviously in order for a store to be profitable, it needs to pay back the expenses it generates - staff, rent, and product purchase. With a large-ticket building, one should be paying back the cost of it over time as if it's rent - how quickly should we be making that back?
I ask because if I build one, I need to know how to price my product - if I'm not paying my building, I'm pricing too low. If I can make back the amount I would invest in a cow shed faster than a factory, I should go that way first, until my efficiency limits me, just like I should build stores until my efficiency limits me to get the highest rate of return.
The real problem comes in for me when I'm looking at semi-products. If no-one is selling them, then I don't know what a good price is. I also don't know if everyone on the market is under-priced, or if I should be trying to undercut them and take their business. As there is no Independent supplier there, and no consumer market to gauge on, pricing can be more fluid.
What do you think, community?
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