Businesses cost the same whether you buy an existing property, or build a new one - see The PF Downtime Buildings page for the base prices - and remember that there will (almost certainly) be a Licence Fee to add to the cost.

However, a well run business earns you money that will contribute to your Living Expenses. Under these rules, you can't take these profits as cash or use them to buy adventuring gear. Trying to work out regular cash payments is an administrative nightmare (Yep, I tried it, and it is hard work).

Big businesses need more customers than small businesses - part of the extra profitability comes from having more, and wealthier, customers - if you build them in the wrong place, they won't earn as much money. In general, small businesses cost 1000gp or less, medium businesses between 1001 and 2500gp, while anything that has a base cost of more than 2500 is a large business.

However, you might choose to build a School or Temple in a village for altruistic reasons and deliberately forgo the larger profit to be made in a town. Or you might build a village Inn, knowing the settlement will grow to a small town in the near future. Equally, you could build a Tavern now, and upgrade to an Inn later. However, the profit is still calculated in accordance with the rules, using the actual size of the settlement at the time.

You can upgrade businesses to more expensive versions, later, and only pay the price difference - so long as the new building is similar to the original. For example, you can upgrade a Tavern to an Inn or a Dance Hall for the price difference. You can also add extra rooms at the standard cost, and create a customized building. However, if you want to upgrade a Trade Shop to a Museum, you might get a reduction in the cost, but not all that much of one.

Every business comes with a suitable staff and the cost of recruiting is included in the final cost of the building, including fees. You can RP those encounters, but if that isn't appropriate for your game, it just happens automatically. In effect, you buy the building and start renting it out to people who run the business. Your profit comes from the rent that you charge them. If you want to play a business person, and your GM permits it, you should use the standard Downtime rules. I don't recommend that - I've tried it, and it can be hard work and boring, in a normal 'Adventure Based' game.

Your DM might decide that something interrupts the normal income from your businesses, often as a plot hook of some sort. These might be something minor, as a side plot, or something major that dominates the main adventure arc for a while - but they should always be resolvable with a bit of effort. Examples might include a shop beset by shoplifters, a massive storm that damages the building, or pirates on a trade route that your ship uses - meaning they have to employ more guards. Or even the business getting so big you can't track it. DMs can have real fun :P

Under this model, you effectively become a property magnate buying more, bigger and better businesses as you progress. In that case you might want to hire a business manager (see the downtime rules) to oversee your business empire. This might be a case of just hiring, or you may want to use one of the feats that allows you to take on a henchman (although there are feats that allow you to take more than one henchman)

Your income from the business comes to 1% of the purchase cost of the building (excluding fees, recruiting etc) each month. That might not seem like a lot, but the building pays for itself after about 8 years - and is (in real terms) a pretty good return. If you go down the business person route, and use the Downtime rules, yopu will make more - but you will lose out on adventuring time. This income goes towards your cost of living expenses, rather than generate gold that you can spend on adventuring gear.

• Income: Your Monthly Cost of Living expenses.
• Home: Maximum value of the home it will support.
• Description: Roughly what you can achieve on that income.

Small businesses can be built in any size of settlement, operate normally and return a full profit. They are Lock-up businesses, and staff live somewhere else in the town (includes village or city). Like other businesses, they are fully staffed with L1 commoners, with the minimum skills to keep the business running - they won't do anything special, but the business runs and makes a profit. There will be planning restrictions - the Pier needs navigable water, smelly or noisy businesses will be pushed into trade areas on the edge of the settlement - well away from anyone with money.

Small Business, especially those in villages, do not normally benefit from employing managers or skilled staff. Under normal circumstances, they are staffed by a L1 commoner, with a +4 modifier in the primary skill, assisted by an unskilled worker.

You need a town or a city to make Medium Businesses work properly, there just aren't enough people in a village to make them financially viable. Even worse, they all need managers to make them fully profitable.

• Medium Businesses in a village - reduce earnings by 50%
• Medium Businesses without a Manager - reduce earnings by 50%
• Might benefit from employing skilled staff.

You need a city to make Large Businesses work properly, there just aren't enough people in towns or village to make them financially viable. Even worse, they all need managers to make them fully profitable.

• Large Businesses in a village - reduce earnings by 90%
• Large Businesses in a town - reduce earnings by 50%
• Large Businesses without a Manager - reduce earnings by 50%
• Large Businesses benefit from employing skilled staff.

(*) Druids groves must be built in wilderness or country areas, but still take the profit hit, in accordance with the rules. They are not a good business investment.