Hovgaard has never published profit tables, so this is not a spreadsheet ranking — it combines three things you can check yourself: what the game's own systems demand from each business (staff roles, stock chain, security load), what long-running players consistently report on Reddit and the Steam forums, and which lines were added late enough that the community has not settled on them. Where the community disagrees, the note says so instead of picking a winner.
S Tier
Name
Role
Why
Jewelry Store
Retail · high-value stock
Named in the community's 'big four' earners. High price per item means high revenue per customer, but it also pulls the heaviest security requirement in the game — plan for security guards and cameras from day one.
Clothing Store
Retail · high-value stock
The other half of the community's top pair. Sourcing is the whole skill: cheap versus expensive, classic versus modern, male versus female fabrics all come from different wholesalers, which is why 'which wholesale dealer has clothing' is one of the most-searched questions about this game.
Electronics Store
Retail · high-value stock
Same profile as jewelry — expensive units, meaningful theft exposure, and a supply chain you can eventually vertically integrate by building an electronics factory.
Hairdresser
Retail · service, no stock
The structural outlier in the top group: it sells a service, so there is no purchasing, no deliveries and no warehouse to feed. That removes the entire logistics layer that sinks new players, which is why it keeps appearing in 'first million' threads.
A Tier
Name
Role
Why
Law Firm
Office
The most disputed entry on this list. One long-running Steam thread ranks it right behind clothing; the reply directly under it says the poster closed theirs because it was 'always in the red'. Both are player reports, not published numbers — treat it as high ceiling, high sensitivity to how many lawyers you schedule.
Supermarket
Retail · broad stock
Highest item variety in the game, so it scales with how well you run purchasing rather than what you sell. Strong once a warehouse feeds it; punishing while you are still ordering box by box.
Nightclub
Retail · entertainment
Late opening hours change the whole staffing pattern, and 1.0 added a dance floor interaction that boosts your own happiness. Drinks can be produced in your own factory, which is where the margin comes from.
Liquor Store
Retail · producible stock
The clearest vertical-integration target: beer, wine and spirits are all manufacturable, so a liquor store plus a factory turns a retail margin into a production margin.
B Tier
Name
Role
Why
Gift Shop
Retail · mixed stock
Popular early because the stock list is short and cheap, and gifts double as the item you need for personal objectives. Its ceiling is limited by low unit prices.
Fast Food Restaurant
Retail · food production
Cooks on site, so the fit-out is machine-heavy — grills, fryers and assembly machines instead of plain shelving. That is why layout questions cluster around this one.
Coffee Shop
Retail · food production
Smaller, cheaper version of the fast food pattern: a few machines, a short stock list, high customer throughput per square metre.
Gym
Retail · service, equipment cost
Service business with no stock chain, but the equipment bill is front-loaded and the fit-out list is long — see the where-to-buy page before you sign a lease.
Book Store
Retail · low-value stock
Cheap to stock and simple to run, but low price per unit caps it. Fine as a second business while you learn deliveries.
C Tier
Name
Role
Why
Florist
Retail · perishable feel, low value
Small stock list, low unit prices, and display furniture that has specific placement requirements. Charming, not lucrative.
Fruit and Vegetable Store
Retail · low-value stock
The cheapest retail entry point in the game and a reasonable tutorial business, but the margin per customer stays small no matter how well you run it.
Cinema
Entertainment (added in EA 0.10)
Added with the 0.10 entertainment line, so community consensus is thinner here than for the older retail lines. Its layout is the single most-searched build question about this game — concessions plus seating in one floorplan.
Theater
Entertainment (added in EA 0.10)
Same 0.10 cohort as the cinema and the same caveat: large floorplans and a fit-out cost that arrives before any revenue does.
D Tier
Name
Role
Why
Web Development Agency
Office
Office businesses trade stock management for workstation cost and employee skill. Programmers need equipped desks, and the office cares about building traffic far less than a shop does — which cuts both ways.
Graphic Designer
Office
Cheapest office line to start (graphic tablets and desks), and a reasonable way to learn how office staffing differs from retail before committing to a law firm.
Event Planning Agency
Service (added in EA 0.10)
Part of the 0.10 service cohort. Too new for settled community numbers; listed low here because nobody has demonstrated a repeatable high-income setup, not because it is proven weak.
Travel Agency
Service (added in EA 0.10)
Same position as event planning — 'how much does a travel agency make' is an open question in the community rather than a solved one. Revisit this row once 1.0 players report figures.