Cash-strapped Startup Mode

The Service Industry DLC adds a Cash-strapped Startup option to the Shopping Mall new game setup menu — and it puts you in the position of a self-funded entrepreneur with almost nothing to work with.

$1 million, and no more

You begin with $1 million in initial capital — a fraction of the usual starting funds. Every decision from the first day is a trade-off, and expansion has to be planned rather than improvised.

Lease, do not buy

The defining constraint is that you must lease retail space in shopping malls rather than buy land outright. That is how most real startups actually operate: limited capital forces a more cautious, more calculated route to growth.