It seem to be similar to the workshop coding where you have to fill the initial investment first. I read something about the code at one time and now I cannot find the link. At any rate, check your clan tab to ensure the caravan is still moving, not captured. If it is good, give it a week or so. Also, they do make money.
In the trade menu, mouse over the hammer on the left window above the item list. This lists the workshops in town and the local town production. Pick workshops based on this and what is most prevalent in the town's inventory. Workshops stop producing when they run out of input goods.
yes this screen is from 1.8.0 clean. year 1888, so a little bit down the road. i also made the experience that the workshops are less static on their income. mostly in a negative way. the silversmith made 800 denars at the first 2 days and then it dropped down to 200, sometimes below. never got back to 800 again.
Workshops and caravans feel like their purpose is to offset your upkeep, not make you loads of money. Trading goods seems to be the lowest income but is always viable as you travel. Selling horses seems to be a good chunk of money but over saturating the market leads to periods of no-profits.
Your caravans and sweatshops workshops should bring enough money to cover the expenses. The fiefs should be the profits or vice versa. The fiefs should be the profits or vice versa. But this will make sure that you can barter with lords later on as well, specialty if you partook int he art of using a hammer to smith.
Workshops may start being more or less handy on higher levels, when you get several fiefs and have money to spend, so you can invest in workshops to cover just the fiefs' maintenance costs. Bottom line - right now, there are better ways to earn money than investing in workshops, especially in early game, when you need money fast and have no
It's visiting settlements, it's just not making any money. Try finding the caravan and talking to your companion and see what they have in their stock. If it is empty maybe it is a bug. Stop caravan and re deploy it. Yes you will spend money but it is worth in long run.
If the towns villages don't produce what the workshop needs, it won't make anything, thus won't make money. How much the villages produce (hearth) effects how much you produce. How much your product sells also matters. Also: workshops make money in intervals, as they need time to create their product.
They balanced it so businesses make a reasonable amount of money. I get around 200 - 400 denars per day for each brewery I build. That's really not reasonable, for 14k~ that's nearly 70 days at least for a return. By then you will probably have a castle or town. Workshops aren't meant to be able to sustain your 100 man elite army. Ducsp.
