What do you need to know to start a profitable company?

A 2020 director guide lists three things you need before running a company: the business education courses, start-up cash for wages and advertising, and stock blocks^[1]. The current wiki says the TCP stock block adds 10% to company profits, for the director only^[2]. TornLife's sources do not give the current purchase price of each company type, how income is calculated, which types earn the most now, or what makes a company fail.

Before you buy one

The 2020 director guide says a company needs three things: relevant education, start-up cash to cover pay and advertising, and stock blocks^[1]. For company start-up costs and stock block prices, it sends readers to an outside stats site^[1]. A 2021 reference guide suggests finishing the non-player (city) jobs before starting your own company, and points new owners to a separate 'How to Start a Company' guide^[3].

• There are two kinds of stats in Torn: battle stats and working stats. Manual labour is needed for jobs such as the Army, and Intelligence for jobs such as programming^[4].
• The Army, Grocer and Casino city jobs can be started on your first day^[5].
• Older sources say you must be level 3 to join a company: a 2017 wiki page and a 2020 guide^[6][7][8]. No source here gives a level requirement for owning one.

What drives income

None of the sources explain the income formula. The 2020 guide and the wiki's list of special positions name the things a director can change: product prices, popularity, advertising, productivity and employee effectiveness^[1][9]. Employees also make money beyond their wage by selling items they get from company specials, according to a 2026 player answer^[10].

Stars, job points and specials

• The director and employees get job points every day at 18:00 TCT, based on the company's ranking^[11].
• Job points buy job specials. Specials that give energy can use only 100 job points a day^[12].
• Specials depend on the company type and its stars. For example, the Car Dealership's 1-star Test Drive costs 5 job points and gives a racing point^[13], and the Mechanic Shop's 5-star Junkyard Dog costs 10 and gives a random car^[14].
• The director gains working stats every day: 5 of each at 1 star, 10 at 2, 20 at 3, 35 at 4, and up to 50 of each at 5 stars or more^[15].

Staff and trains

• The Trainer position gives up to 3 extra trains^[9].
• The company gains one train per star per day, and each employee can receive up to 20 trains a day^[15].
• Each train gives 50 of the employee's primary work stat and 25 of the secondary, whatever their efficiency^[15].
• New-player guides from 2020 and 2026 tell low-stat players to work for no pay in return for daily trains, so offering trains is one way to hire without paying wages^[16][8].
• A 2017 wiki guide suggested that new players ask for $10,000 pay^[7]. That figure is old.

Business education (2020 guide)

This table comes from one player's guide written in 2020. It has not been checked against the current game^[1].

Stock blocks: current wiki vs 2020

• Current wiki (captured 2025): stock benefits depend on the number of shares you own, not the money invested, and a benefit block works as soon as you buy it^[17].
• Current wiki: TCP gives a 10% boost to company profits, for the director only^[2].
• 2020 guide: the TCP block was 1,000,000 shares, TGP at 2,500,000 shares gave a large advertising boost, and SYS was optional^[1]. These share counts are from 2020, and the current TCP block size is not confirmed here.

Selling special items

The Item Market charges a 4% sales fee, which rose to 5% on 22 June 2025^[18]. Bazaar sales avoid this fee, so margins are better^[19].

Not covered by TornLife's sources: the current purchase price and size of each company type, which types earn the most now, how daily income is calculated, how much owners typically spend on advertising, and what leads to bankruptcy or failure. Check the wiki's company pages and current director guides before buying.