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Topic:

Topic created : 5.02.2010, 12:32

prashantm

Prashant M. Ltd.

Hi,

I'm new to the game and have started out with a small retail chain. In various stores I'm basically trying to retail a little bit of everything in Pretoria, South Africa. I'm having a lot of issues with the following

1. Getting supplies of products. I placing orders of several times my actual needs to various suppliers. The problem is that i'm just not getting the supplies.

2. I'm having to micromanage the suppliers for each store I set up. Can I somhow replecate my orders across all my stores or something along those lines so that I dont have to repeat for each store?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers Well

Prashant

**Sorry for pasting a duplicate message in 2 forums. Didn' know which one was the right one.

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5.02.2010, 12:46

Company 2.0

Correct forum for questions would probably be "FAQ". We'll let you off this time though... Very we!

1. Are you ordering from suppliers with units available?
In the order page there are 2 columns. The first is how many units the enterprise has in total, the second is available units that the enterprise has left after current orders are subtracted.

2. An easier way to manage orders is by using a warehouse. Order larger amounts to a warehouse which you then order from with your stores. The costs are higher using this method but it saves time and energy because you only have to look after 1 enterprise.
You'll also need a warehouse for each class of goods (foodstuff, motor car, jewelery, etc.).

3. You didn't have a 3 but Pretoria is not the best place to retail goods. You will find prices vary across countries and cities so it is worthwhile doing some research and/or spreading stores across other countries.

5.02.2010, 13:36

tycoonzero

im like you, i couldn't find any suppliers to begin with. Don't bother with stores just yet, just have one factory and produce something. you'll likely get massive profits from production anyway because there's not enough suppliers. once your qualification increases, keep expanding production (try to specialise in one industry, say something simple like food or clothing). once you have enough production, start your own store and supply yourself. trust me, you'll never find enough suppliers in this game, there's too few suppliers. it's first come first serve, and your dead last on the list when it comes to supplying your retail stores. so just produce.

the only way you can get a stable supply line for your stores is if you create a business alliance or invite other friends to play. you can each produce one thing each and supply it to each other's stores. that's what i'm planning to do.

5.02.2010, 15:01

prashantm

Prashant M. Ltd.

Thanks for the info fractal and tycoonzero. Really appreciated. Have started with a retail chain for food stuff in Iokogama(Japan) in the lein world. Have orders from supplies who have invetory. Lets see how this one goes.
@tycoonzero - I have managed to get suppliers for some stuff as fractal told me. Will start out with some production in cheap parts of the world as the game progresses.

Cheers

Masky

5.02.2010, 15:14

Jythier

If you're doing food, you can get meat and eggs from a chicken farm or meat and milk from a cow farm. They're about $300-400k for the smaller ones, which will produce 1000 meat and 3000 eggs, or 500 meat and 2000 eggs. That's what I'm doing in Lien and it seems to be working. Then, a mill for flour, and bakery for bread.

Also note that you can buy fruits and sugar from the unlimited supplier.

5.02.2010, 17:31

Company 2.0

Iokogama is a much better city for retail. The higher city prices allow you more opportunity because you can still make a profit when ordering more expensive supplies.

On Mary realm any non-African country is better for retail (but there are some that are better than others). I'm not saying you should avoid retailing in Africa, just that you'll find it easier if you do (especially when just starting).

Even if you don't plan on getting serious about stock raising you should still have at least 1 animal farm. Because stock raising is under a separate qualification, it will not hurt your efficiency either (as long as total staff is not already on the limit for management qualification).
As Jythier mentioned they cost ~300-400k but you can recoup that very quickly on Lien realm, as well as giving your store two food products to sell at retail prices. Once operational the costs are very low and meat currently sells very well at 200+.