Overview

• Every settlement will start with one or two businesses that you need to supply resources to so you can sell cargo to them
• The most common method is via trucks and setting up the delivery is covered in the Transport - Road article
  • Businesses can also be supplied via trains
  • The businesses are connected to freight stations via the logistics connection

• The notifications menu will provide you with information about:
  • New Business
  • Demand Increased
  • Demand Decreased
  • Bankruptcy

• Businesses have a rating:
  • Awful / Bad / Average / Good / Excellent
  • The rating affects whether the Demand Decreases or Increases
  • The rating also affects the Settlements overall rating

• Businesses have a storage buffer
  • This is where the cargo delivered via a freight station is placed, and then supplied to the business as it demands it
  • If you over supply a business then you will get a notification that supply is exceed
    • The price the business buys at  will be reduced

Important 

• As explained in the Warehouse article, a businesses CANNOT receive goods from a warehouse, it can ONLY receive goods from a freight station

New Business

• As a Settlements overall rating improves, new businesses will become available to sell to
• You will be notified of businesses that you do not yet have the technology unlocked yet
  • This is a game mechanic encouraging you to perform research and unlock new regions
  • Research
    • If you have not yet performed the research, it's very unlikely you will:
      • Complete the research in time
      • Setup the new factories to make the item
      • Transport item to sell to the business
    • It's still beneficial to perform the research, but don't be concerned if the business goes bankrupt, another will appear soon enough
  • New Region
    • If you have enough money, unlocking a new region and setting up the transport infrastructure will allow you to supply that business and make it profitable
  • You can prevent the business from becoming bankrupt and disappearing if you don't complete research in time or need longer for the new region to be unlocked, it's simply a matter of having the funds to do so

Demand Increased

• Demand will increase when you have supplied enough cargo to the business and improved it's rating
• You will be able to sell more cargo to the business now
• Keep in mind, you will need to deliver more cargo as the rating of the business will adjust as it now demands more

Demand Decreased

• Demand will decrease when you have not supplied enough cargo to the business
• If this continues, it's possible your business will become bankrupt
• Supply more cargo to resolve the problem
  • This might be an opportunity to upgrade the vehicles or trains to improved models with more transport capacity
• You may also need to investigate if you have other bottlenecks such as:
  • Not enough cargo for the vehicles to collect
  • Bottlenecks in the road/train network causing delays