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virtonomica

List of forums -> Questions and answers. Help. -> Newbie's Guide

Here you can learn from the interaction between experienced businessmen and young entrepreneurs. You are welcome to place your questions related to our business simulation game and get the answers from experienced players

Topic:

Topic created : 7.11.2010, 16:43

Last time edited : 9.12.2015, 22:20

erevion
Winner of the Leaders Contest in the nomination Tender mania Winner of the Leaders Contest in the nomination Quality label Winner of the Leaders Contest in the nomination Markets Storm Winner of the Leaders Contest in the nomination The Standard of Virtonomics Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination "Knowledge is power!" Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination Consumer Goods Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination Trade Turnover Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination The Standard of Virtonomics
 
==================
...  Before we begin  ...
==================
Below is a compiled list of FAQs that I can think of for starters. In fact, at this time of post, I have only begun playing for about 2 weeks only so most of the questions below were actually raised by myself. Thanks to this helpful community, I got all the answers and additional information accompanied.
 
The list below will be updated from time to time. Please feel free to raise your questions here. Once they have been answered, I will update the first post with the new Q&A.
 
For those who are unaware, there is a wikipedia created for Virtonomics and there are many information you can find pertaining to this game. The link can be found at: http://wiki.virtonomics.com/. There are many FAQs in there too.
 
Wherever possible, please look through the list below before posting your question as there might be duplicates. Thanks! Very we!
 
==================
...  FAQs  ...
==================
++My First Week of Virtonomics++
Q1) I have just created an account, selected the realm that I want to play in. Now what?
A1) You can choose to accept your rich uncle's gift (A basic setup of your business empire), or to build your company from scratch. For those who like the excitement of building things from scratch (And at the same time learn more in the process), I would recommend that you choose the latter and tweak around as things get bigger.
 
Q2) What do I do after I have built my office?
A2) You need to employ staff and get a computer equipment for your staff. Also make sure to tweak the number of employee to hire, their salary and the computer equipment accordingly to ensure that you have full efficiency for your office.
 
Additional Information (Contributed by VLLord)
Better to start with computers quality 1 and employees qualification = required = 1. Don't put workers' qualification higher than required!
 
On the foot of the main page of your subdivisions there is a link "Work efficiency". It shows efficiency of this subdivision for tomorrow. This link updates every ~15 minutes
 
Q3) Why is my office not making money for me?
A3) Because it can't. For a start, you might want to branch out towards Commerce field. This is where you construct retail stores, get supplies, and sell them to your customers. Alternatively, you might want to go into Production field and build factories, organise your suppliers, and eventually producing items. These items may then be sold to other players who will then sell these items to the market. If you already have operational retail stores, you may also sell to your retail customers by supplying to your retail stores directly.
 
Q4) Where is a good place for my store?
A4) Frankly, anywhere is a good place to start a store. For a start, you might wish to find a wealthy country, and place a store in city centre and at 500sqm.
 
Additional Information (Contributed by VLLord. Examples are geared for Mary players)
 
Don't start your stores in rich countries(Germany, France etc). Workers' required qualification is very high there. Instead of this find a good market in Africa or Turkey. Sometimes markets there are more profitable, than in Europe So-so
 
Q5) Why hasn't my supply come?
A5) There are two things to note here:
1. Supplies do not come immediately! You need to wait for a game-week (or a day in real life) for them to arrive. This is applicable for ALL sort of setup (retail stores, factories, etc).
2. When ordering your supply, look out for the Available column from the supplier. Yes, the supplier might be producing 400,000 products a day (represented by All column), but if the supplier has nothing available, you won't be getting any supplies unless your supplier produces more the next day, or to give you priority when distributing the products. In this case, you might want to drop the supplier a note and network with your supplier for a long-term working relationship.
3. You can choose the "Automatic Purchase" option to let the system make some purchase automatically for you. Unlike your usual way of ordering goods, these orders are delivery immediately. However, I personally do not recommend this mode as the profit margin for these goods are usually not very high. You are better off spending the 100k on other things.
 
Q6) How do I know what are the good items to sell? And by good I mean profitable Not precisely
A6) What would you do in real life if you wanted to open a retail store? Know if your products are unique, and who your competitors are, and possibly what price rate are they selling for their products, right? Similarly, you would want to do the same in Virtonomics. There are extensive functions available to assist you with your market research. For a start, you can go to Game World -> Reports. Select the country/city that your retail store is located at, then look at the different types of products that you want to sell. Pay attention to two things here:
1. Local Suppliers' information
2. Stores' information
 
The local suppliers in Virtonomics would mean non-player-controlled companies that are in the market. Stores would mean the ones controlled by players.
 
In essence, you want to have a edge-on over the local suppliers. It could be same pricing but better quality in products. Look through the list of suppliers you have access to, and select your products from there.
 
Another thing you want to take note is the location of store. Customers shopping in City Centers tend to care more on quality than in the pricing, as compared to customers shopping in the suburb. Also, take note of the wealth index of the country. In rich countries, generally, quality is favoured over price.
 
Q7) What is this "Work Efficiency" that everyone is talking about? How does it affect me?
A7) VLLord created a thread to help people curb with this issue: The link can be found at: http://virtonomics.com/lien/forum/forum_new/13/topic/100146/view.
 
Q8) Argh, what's all these "Qualifications" and "Work Efficiency"? How do I link them up? Please paint the big picture!
A8) Think of Qualifications as your 'level' in this game. To be able to deal with large businesses, you need to be of the appropriate level to come in. Which is why your Work Efficiency has to be tweaked in accordance to your Qualifications.
 
For example, refer to the charts in the link stated in Q7. At Qualification 1 (Q1 for short) for Commerce, how many staff should I hire to gain 100% work efficiency for a retail store, if the required qualification is 3.00? This can be calculated by: (Quality of Staff needed * ((current staff / left column of the chart) ^ 0.5)). In this case: 3 * (5 / 50) ^ 0.5 = ~Q1. You know that you can hire 5 staff.
 
So you see, if you hired more than that, you might experience a drop in Work Efficiency. Sometimes though, it could be a good thing. For example, if you were to expand your shop to 1,000sqm and hire say 10 staff. You will experience better sales volume (due to increased crowd) despite having lower work efficiency!
 
Take note that your work efficiency is also affected by your office efficiency! So make sure you tweak them well Very we!
 
Lastly, you can also do quests to gain more experience in your Qualifications!
 
Q9) Can you tell me what to do, in a nutshell, if I want to setup a retail store?
A9) First of all, DO YOUR MARKET RESEARCH! Then find a country and set up an office. Staff your office with employee/equipment and then set up a retail store in the city center at 500sqm. Find your supplies and try to stick to one department (Same type of product). Set the selling price of your products and watch your sales grow Very we!
 
Additional Information (Contributed by VLLord)
How to make market research: open warehouse and choose specialization that you need. Then go to supplies and press green car. Choose avaliable from 1. After you'll look at avaliable goods and prices - close warehouse.
 
Q10) Help! I'm stuck! My required qualification for my store is 9.0, but if I set my salary range to accommodate to that, I am not able to get 100% work efficiency!
A10) Look up at Q8.
 
Q11) How do I complete Quest [AAA]?
A11) Read this thread for tips on how to complete the quest in question: http://virtonomics.com/lien/forum/forum_new/13/topic/27495/view
 
Q12) How much time is needed for me to increase my Qualifications?
A12) Look at this post by noglues5: http://virtonomics.com/lien/forum/forum_new/13/topic/100391/view/m:99902333/#99902333
 
Q13) Eeeeek! My supplier just went missing! My retail store's operation is screwed....
A13) This is one of the common problems everyone faces when we decide to go Commerce. There are a few ways you can do to work around this, and hopefully, mitigate similar threats to come.
1. Build a warehouse, and stock up on supplies. Direct all supplies from your warehouse to your retail stores. This way, you have ample backup supply to fall back on while you go on search for another supplier, and you don't have to do that for all your stores; just a simple point of contact Very we!
2. Never depend on one supplier! Look around for similar quality-price ratio and play a bit of mix-and-match.
3. Network with your suppliers. Always request for early notifications so that you can make the necessary arrangements.
 
++My Second Week of Virtonomics++
Q14) Cool... Some of my Commerce and Management Qualifications have improved, and I'm getting a stable income from my retail stores now.. What should I do next?
A14) Glad you didn't give up on this game Very we! From here on, you decide where you want to go next. Logically, since your front-end (retail stores) have a steady stream of customers, you need to work on your back-end (production/supply) now.
 
One thing I learnt in business is that there is only *this* far you can do for your front-end - You can only lower your price to get more customers. But hey, why not work on the back-end instead? Basically, to increase profit, you just need to lower the cost!
 
I know there are a few people who might have missed this page out, but this is very, very helpful (especially for beginners): http://virtonomics.com/lien/main/common/main_page/game_info/game_map. For those in other servers, amend the server name in the URL to the respective servers that you are on.
 
Now, if you study this road-map, you'll realise that I am actually moving from "Trade" to "Production and Research" track. Of course there're other ways to help you earn more money, but I chose this path because you get to get exposed to more things (and learn more things) Very we!
 
For example: Your retail store is currently purchasing 1500 meat at a price of $45 and you're selling at the price of $120. Why not construct a farm, with an initial capital of around 350k (including staffing and livestock/supply) and start producing 1200 meat at a prime cost of $15? You work the math; usually it's very good ROI.
   

Message list:  

25.02.2011, 18:31

Last time edited : 25.02.2011, 18:33

VLLord
Eleven years with Virtonomics For contribution to the development of Virtonomics Golden amphora of Heraklion Golden bed-clothing Standard underwear
m:
Golden Empire
 
vendetta656

I just started this game, and dont understand the way to calculate prices. could you give an example of this?
 
Very good guide on how to start up by the way.

The easiest way:
try to find quality equal or higher to the city average one and put the price equal to the average or a little less.
 
E.g. if your quality is 2 times higher than city average increase your price by 30%.
 
Later you'll understand how increase profit by changing prices. My formula helps a little. 
Do you want to get an answer or to find suppliers quickly? Or just to chat?
Join Virtonomics Skype group. Add me lordvl2.
 

26.02.2011, 05:46.     Subject: The level of administrative load

Kinabalu
Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination Trade Turnover Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination The Standard of Virtonomics Three years with Virtonomics
Three years with Virtonomics
 
The level of administrative load
148.78 % (at the moment of update)
 
this is happen to my company....
 
just asking is this good or bad and how to handle it if bad?
 
thanks for helping 
 

26.02.2011, 16:02

VLLord
Eleven years with Virtonomics For contribution to the development of Virtonomics Golden amphora of Heraklion Golden bed-clothing Standard underwear
m:
Golden Empire
 
Kinabalu
The level of administrative load
148.78 % (at the moment of update)
 
this is happen to my company....
 
just asking is this good or bad and how to handle it if bad?
 
thanks for helping

This means that your staff #/qualification is not enough and this causes the efficiency dropping down.
 
You need to increase #/qualification of the employees to make administrative load < 100%. 
Do you want to get an answer or to find suppliers quickly? Or just to chat?
Join Virtonomics Skype group.
 

31.05.2011, 05:37

MainMania
Two years with Virtonomics
 
wow -- just to show a sign of appreciation
 
thanks so much -- this awesome guide really helps newbies like me to start rolling with the game! 
 

31.05.2011, 05:38

MainMania
Two years with Virtonomics
 
(Quality of Staff needed * ((current staff / left column of the chart) ^ 0.5)).
 
btw,, for this equation
 
what does the left column of the chart mean??
 
http://www.stevenliew.com/virtonomics-work-efficiency-chart
 
is it always 50? or can it be 100
 
i just dont understand this part -- 
 

31.05.2011, 11:37

VLLord
Eleven years with Virtonomics For contribution to the development of Virtonomics Golden amphora of Heraklion Golden bed-clothing Standard underwear
m:
Golden Empire
 
The left column in all these tables is the number of employees. 
 

15.08.2011, 16:37

Last time edited : 15.08.2011, 16:38

vdschaaf
Nine years with Virtonomics Winner of the Leaders Contest in the nomination Tender mania Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination "Knowledge is power!" Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination Consumer Goods Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination Trade Turnover Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination The Standard of Virtonomics
 
Wow!! Thank you all very much for this information. 
 

10.09.2011, 07:11

Cowboy7
Five years with Virtonomics
Six years with Virtonomics
 
Part III. Advanced
 
How to increase local suppliers' price
put powerful store(e.g. 100'000m, reputation > 500)
take 10..20% of market volume(your products' quality should be a little higher, than local suppliers' one)
increase your price by 1..3% every day
 
will a not so powerful store raise local prices if I'm selling 10-20% of the market? 
 

2.11.2011, 18:38

sprishi
 
how 2 start a new store???....am new to this 
 

3.11.2011, 00:49

Melchior2008
Лидер розничной торговли Сенегала Thirteen years With Virtonomics Bastille Key Triple corporate chevron Production: elite Science: bachelor Management: bachelor For contribution to the development of Virtonomics
Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination "Knowledge is power!" Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination Consumer Goods Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination Trade Turnover Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination The Standard of Virtonomics
m:
RoMa Inc.
 
sprishi
how 2 start a new store???....am new to this

 
1. Do the market research before you open the store, in order to open it on a profitable market
2. Open a "new subdivision", select "store", region, etc... Open a new office before the store, if you don't have one yet in that region.
3. Supply your store and start advertising it (watch out for the administrative load at the office)
4. Hire personnel at the store
5. Set prices accordingly, and maintain a reasonable supply
6. Collect the cash from your lobotomized customers 
 

4.11.2011, 10:28

JakeFisher
Four years with Virtonomics
Three years with Virtonomics
l:
Fisher LTD
 
Personell is required after 1 update you ordered stuffs. 
 

15.11.2011, 14:46.     Subject: start

benguller
Nine years with Virtonomics
Eleven years with Virtonomics
 
Hy!
 
I'm new and have read and watch video tutorials to, but first watch is a bit difficult to me.
I think i better restart, because i have build and rent to much first.
I have only one question, how should i beginn? Buy store's or build facotry?
Thx for help.
 
Best regards 
 

15.11.2011, 15:46

JustNash
Twelve years with Virtonomics Jubilee Ten Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Macedonian common amphora Common amphora of Heraklion The winner in the nomination Your Way to success of the Industry Competition Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination "Knowledge is power!"
One year with Virtonomics
Основатель г.Хасселт Jewelry Loupe Founder of Carcassonne Twelve years with Virtonomics Belgium soccer ball Traskor Swedish standard Viking helmet
Dalahast Deer horns Ingvar Kamprad Order Mathematic teacher Compass Festive glasses Jubilee Ten Silver Ten
For contribution to the development of Virtonomics The tender collider, VII-XV places The tender collider, VII-XV places The tender collider, VII-XV places The tender collider, IV-VI places The tender collider, IV-VI places World Cuisines, VII-XV places World Cuisines, VII-XV places
World Cuisines, IV-Vi places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places
Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, VII-XV places Shagreen, IV-VI, places
Shagreen, IV-VI, places Shagreen, IV-VI, places Shagreen, IV-VI, places Shagreen, IV-VI, places Shagreen, II-III places Shagreen, II-III places Shagreen, II-III places Shagreen, II-III places
Platinum sponsor of the Contest for Tycoons Platinum sponsor of the Contest for Tycoons Platinum sponsor of the Contest for Tycoons Platinum sponsor of the Contest for Tycoons Platinum sponsor of the Contest for Tycoons Platinum sponsor of the Contest for Tycoons Platinum sponsor of the Contest for Tycoons Platinum sponsor of the Contest for Tycoons
Platinum sponsor of the Contest for Tycoons Founder of the city Sikasso Macedonian Silver amphora Bronze amphora of Heraklion The winner of the Industry Competition The winner in the nomination Your Way to success of the Industry Competition The winner of the Storm of regions nomination of the Industry Competition The winner of the Standard of Virtonomics nomination of the Industry Competition
Three years with Virtonomics
l:
Premium Brands
m:
Premium Brands
 
on Mary I started without my Uncle's gift. I nearly went bankrupt by overextending on factories. So my advice is to start off with stores. Start off with high % margin products. This way you get a good profit on your small capital base. I also found out at some point that I just didn't have the cash to finance my purchases of product to sell the next day. So to start off, it is better to sell only 1M's worth, but at a 30% margin rather than 5M's worth at a 10% margin. You see: you might not have the cash to buy the 5M worth of product.
 
Also: do market research before opening a store anywhere.
 
Once the cash in your account sufficiently outgrows your daily purchasing needs, you can contemplate starting a factory. Bear in mind though that it not only costs money to start it up, you also require capital to keep it operational. The costs are incurred a game week (calendar day) before the revenue kicks in.
 
Things are much simpler/easier/less challenging if you accept your Uncle's gift. 
 

15.11.2011, 16:28.     Subject: start

benguller
Nine years with Virtonomics
Eleven years with Virtonomics
 
JustNash!
 

First of all thx for replying so fast.
I will wait a few days, will watch how things going.
So if I restart i better do it with stores...ok.
A have read so many times this Uncle's gift thing, but I dont remember it that I can use this at start.
Anyway thx for fast reply, I will see a few days what I will do.
 
(and sry for my bad english, I'm not the best of it To you)
Best regards 
 

15.11.2011, 17:38

Melchior2008
Лидер розничной торговли Сенегала Thirteen years With Virtonomics Bastille Key Triple corporate chevron Production: elite Science: bachelor Management: bachelor For contribution to the development of Virtonomics
Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination "Knowledge is power!" Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination Consumer Goods Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination Trade Turnover Winner of the Contest for Managers in the nomination The Standard of Virtonomics
m:
RoMa Inc.
 
I agree, starting with a store is easier than with a factory. Because factory is a huge investment, and you'll have to sell your products also, but the prices on the wholesale market are rather low, so you're need a... store sooner or later. It brings bigger margins on your sales.
 
If you accept your uncle's gift, the initial investment in the factory is already done, so you just have to run the factory on the daily basis. 
 

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