I have been informed that sims are able to purchase businesses but the option is located nowhere for me. I click the bike but that does not work and when i click on businesses, the option to purchase isnt visible. Thanks.

You need to have enough cash on hand to buy the business before the option will show up, when you click on the lot with your sim selected. Not all community lots can be purchased. The diner is $15,000 for a partnership, I think; that's on the cheap end. The bookstore and grocery store are around $18,000. If I remember correctly, the hospital is $30,000 or $40,000; I'm not sure whether there's anything over $40,000.

After purchasing a partnership, and once you have enough money, you can buy out the remaining partners in the same way. I think that most business cost twice again what you paid to buy fully. So, to fully buy out the diner, you need another $20,000 or $30,000.

If your selected sim doesn't have the option to buy, the most likely reason is that you don't have enough money.

Be aware that you will not be able to sell the business for anywhere near what you paid for it, at least in my limited experience. I am currently being offered less than $5000 for the diner; it's lost more than 2/3 of its value and my sim hasn't received nearly that much in income from it: several weeks of less than $1000 / week.

Also, as a partner, your sim will not have any control of the business. I believe that you gain some limited control once you buy it out fully.

As well, the game doesn't include your share of businesses in your net worth. Since my sim had a long-term wish for a specific net worth, buying businesses was a losing proposition.

I'm pretty sure that to get a partnership for most stores are only $7,000 at least for me it is.