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This is a horrible way to try and sell off your business

 Talliostro wrote:
If I win the lottery and had a decent amount of money to play with, I would consider buying this....
Just to run things with german efficiency and getting this trainwreck back on track

Lol. Why?

If running a miniature-painting business is truly your "dream" and you have that kinda money to burn....

- Get a website.
- Rent a well-lit office-room somewhere
- Hire a painter or two.
- Run a few "win a painted army/titan/something"-facebook competitions to get your name (and proof of your work) out there.
- Keep the other ~90% of those USD 440.000 as cash reserves for rainy days.

I like the idea of an oversea investment, that's why

 Necros wrote:
I'll buy that for a dollar?

I was going to say the exact same thing, but I realized you had already made the best. reference. ever.

I had to log in just to congratulate you on that one. Well done!

I need a gif of a guy eating popcorn and smiling, STAT!

So when Shawn says he is dedicated 100% to this and there is nothing else he' d be rather doing he means nothing else unless that involves 500k $ as a trade off

 Capamaru wrote:
So when Shawn says he is dedicated 100% to this and there is nothing else he' d be rather doing he means nothing else unless that involves 500k $ as a trade off

And then, if someone is dumb enough to hand him half a million dollars for a business with a damaged reputation, he can just open a new commission painting service without all of the baggage of BTP and laugh his way to the bank.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Sining wrote:
This is a horrible way to try and sell off your business

But it's a great way to get people to talk about your business on forums.

what a clown, I doubt this thing is even worth 10% of what he ask.

Has it been taken off the site?

Can't see the listing.

I wonder what changes we'll be seeing to make the business look like a better purchase.

It's pretty funny considering he's always said this was his dream and he's in it for the long haul.

If it's already gone maybe they've found a sucker who took the bait?

Maybe they were getting too many joke offers.

They would have to pay me way more than $400k to associate my name with that company. Wait... They want me to pay that for their company? No thanks

It's still there under Premium Experiences & Services:

http://www.bluetablestore.com/premium-experiences-and-services/blue-table-painting-buy-the-company

But a gmail-adress, seriously?

I like this part better,

"Product Reviews

This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Be the first to review this product! "

So who's up for writing the first one?

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
When someone was selling another mini business there was an observation that small business owners will usually calculate how much they need to retire and price things that way, rather than by the value of the business.

So that might explain some of the price.

It might also have something to do with this:

You will have no bank or tax debt from the company.

I wonder how much of that $440K is for paying off "bank or tax debt"?

How many cans of spray paint is $440k?

Does anyone else think maybe he accidentally double tapped the 4 button....or the 0 button?

I think he typo'd "Run" in his ad. I think that he meant to write "Ruin".

 Gymnogyps wrote:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
When someone was selling another mini business there was an observation that small business owners will usually calculate how much they need to retire and price things that way, rather than by the value of the business.

So that might explain some of the price.

It might also have something to do with this:

You will have no bank or tax debt from the company.

I wonder how much of that $440K is for paying off "bank or tax debt"?

I rather suspect the latter.

I think that it is quite possible that BTP has been in a death spiral for a while - and that Tenebre's Chaos Dwarf Problems(TM) were a symptom.

Unable to make ends meet with current output.
Increase output.
Quality Assurance falls behind.
Artists leave.
Sales Drop.
Unable to make ends meet with current output....

Malice is not needed, just panic.

The Auld Grump

Interesting... this could be why BTP decided to offer more than a 10% refund to Tenebre for his badly done for the price chaos dwarf money to the point that he was willing to take down all the videos that publicized the issue. I guess they didn't want a giant festering pimple on there virtual forehead when trying to ask another owner out on a date.

 Akar wrote:
http://www.bluetablestore.com/

I know it's a hot topic for some people here, but for a mere $440,000 USD it could be yours!!

I could buy two taco johns franchises

Yeah, but how big could the market for tacos possibly be? Sub-par miniature painting and confused games analysis is where the big money is.

 SkaerKrow wrote:
How badly did they eff-up that guy's Chaos Dwarfs? Sell the company bad.

That's what I've been wondering too.

I've been imagining that image of bane breaking batman's back with ten'sn's face on bane and shawn's on batman.

Might be in bad taste but I can't stop imagining it after this news broke.

If this pans out to be true, and I'm inclined to think so given that BTP has never made a joke of this scale that I know of, I think that tenebre's case was something of the straw that broke the camel's back.

There was so much overhead incurred with such a large studio plus maintaining the space for Valhalla and its other big events that I think that, even at the best of times, BTP was on a knife edge financially. There was a lot of ambition and not a lot of conservative responsibility and once something big hit, like a settlement and the previous reputation hit that the whole stack of cards fell apart.

If this pans out as true, I'll have little sympathy for Shawn. He is the self-styled leader of that organization, and avoiding these kinds of situations falls firmly in his sphere of responsibility, which he clearly failed at doing. However, I will feel bad for the staff who are now effectively stranded without much in the way of work or opportunities. For their sake, I do hope someone buys the facility and re-brands it. Under new management, I could see a large staff and tight run ship being a great thing in the commission painting market. But it needs a huge amount of control and leadership.

I thought Shawn made some incredibly stupid mistakes and handled PR terribly. He became someone that irritated me with his very shady customer service incidents, whereas I started watching his videos many years back with a great deal of favor towards him and his ambitions.

Whatever else, watching his videos has shown me a man with a wife and kids to support. He's not murdered anyone, he's made some very poor decisions and buggered about with other people's money. Whilst we all might gather to crow about the downfall of a poorly run business and a seemingly deluded man, I would remind you all there are others who will suffer as a result of the business folding and ask you to limit the gloating, for his family's sake, his employees and any potential customers who may find themselves caught up in it.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
I thought Shawn made some incredibly stupid mistakes and handled PR terribly. He became someone that irritated me with his very shady customer service incidents, whereas I started watching his videos many years back with a great deal of favor towards him and his ambitions.

Whatever else, watching his videos has shown me a man with a wife and kids to support. He's not murdered anyone, he's made some very poor decisions and buggered about with other people's money. Whilst we all might gather to crow about the downfall of a poorly run business and a seemingly deluded man, I would remind you all there are others who will suffer as a result of the business folding and ask you to limit the gloating, for his family's sake, his employees and any potential customers who may find themselves caught up in it.

I'd also stress the part about the folks who have paint for painting commissions and/or sent their armies into them. *IF* the business is on shakey ground financially and that is the reason he has decided to sell but can't, that is likely a whole bunch of folks out there in the gaming community that are additionally at risk. If I were a customer of their's who didn't have a finished product literally in the mail at the time of the announcement, I'd be very worried.

 curran12 wrote:
However, I will feel bad for the staff who are now effectively stranded without much in the way of work or opportunities. For their sake, I do hope someone buys the facility and re-brands it. Under new management, I could see a large staff and tight run ship being a great thing in the commission painting market. But it needs a huge amount of control and leadership.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Whilst we all might gather to crow about the downfall of a poorly run business and a seemingly deluded man, I would remind you all there are others who will suffer as a result of the business folding and ask you to limit the gloating, for his family's sake, his employees and any potential customers who may find themselves caught up in it.

I, one of the staff members at BTP, can honestly say this is a nightmare for me. This company had good things going for it. But poor management and PR has greatly hurt us. All of it could have been avoided. Its one thing to watch a slow train wreck, its another to have to work in one...

The staff loved their jobs. We love making products our clients enjoy. Majority of the time we have happy clients. The problems occur when there is miscommunication between management, clients, and the staff. It could be a great company again, but there would need to be a major change in hows its managed.

I honestly dont know what I'm going to do, I dont want to flip burgers... and I have a limited skill set.

EDIT: Projects are still getting done, I'm still going in to work. The company is functioning, just poorly. I just dont know for how long...

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
I thought Shawn made some incredibly stupid mistakes and handled PR terribly. He became someone that irritated me with his very shady customer service incidents, whereas I started watching his videos many years back with a great deal of favor towards him and his ambitions.

Whatever else, watching his videos has shown me a man with a wife and kids to support. He's not murdered anyone, he's made some very poor decisions and buggered about with other people's money. Whilst we all might gather to crow about the downfall of a poorly run business and a seemingly deluded man, I would remind you all there are others who will suffer as a result of the business folding and ask you to limit the gloating, for his family's sake, his employees and any potential customers who may find themselves caught up in it.

I dont, he poorly managed his company, screwed over people and bought advertising.
This is what capitalism is, poorly managed companies go down hill.

 Igenstilch wrote:
The problems occur when there is miscommunication between management, clients, and the staff.

I disagree about this. It isn't about miscommunication (which can happen to anyone), it's about BTP producing work that is inconsistent at best and having an official policy of "no refunds, no matter what" (complete with ridiculous scifi quote about never giving the customer their money back, in their old FAQ). That's a combination that is guaranteed to produce unhappy customers no matter how well everyone communicates. But it's how BTP has been run for years, and it's honestly amazing to me that it has taken them this long to die.

 Igenstilch wrote:

 curran12 wrote:
However, I will feel bad for the staff who are now effectively stranded without much in the way of work or opportunities. For their sake, I do hope someone buys the facility and re-brands it. Under new management, I could see a large staff and tight run ship being a great thing in the commission painting market. But it needs a huge amount of control and leadership.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Whilst we all might gather to crow about the downfall of a poorly run business and a seemingly deluded man, I would remind you all there are others who will suffer as a result of the business folding and ask you to limit the gloating, for his family's sake, his employees and any potential customers who may find themselves caught up in it.

I, one of the staff members at BTP, can honestly say this is a nightmare for me. This company had good things going for it. But poor management and PR has greatly hurt us. All of it could have been avoided. Its one thing to watch a slow train wreck, its another to have to work in one...

The staff loved their jobs. We love making products our clients enjoy. Majority of the time we have happy clients. The problems occur when there is miscommunication between management, clients, and the staff. It could be a great company again, but there would need to be a major change in hows its managed.

I honestly dont know what I'm going to do, I dont want to flip burgers... and I have a limited skill set.

EDIT: Projects are still getting done, I'm still going in to work. The company is functioning, just poorly. I just dont know for how long...

Yikes, so this sale is legit, then?

 Igenstilch wrote:

 curran12 wrote:
However, I will feel bad for the staff who are now effectively stranded without much in the way of work or opportunities. For their sake, I do hope someone buys the facility and re-brands it. Under new management, I could see a large staff and tight run ship being a great thing in the commission painting market. But it needs a huge amount of control and leadership.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Whilst we all might gather to crow about the downfall of a poorly run business and a seemingly deluded man, I would remind you all there are others who will suffer as a result of the business folding and ask you to limit the gloating, for his family's sake, his employees and any potential customers who may find themselves caught up in it.

I, one of the staff members at BTP, can honestly say this is a nightmare for me. This company had good things going for it. But poor management and PR has greatly hurt us. All of it could have been avoided. Its one thing to watch a slow train wreck, its another to have to work in one...

The staff loved their jobs. We love making products our clients enjoy. Majority of the time we have happy clients. The problems occur when there is miscommunication between management, clients, and the staff. It could be a great company again, but there would need to be a major change in hows its managed.

I honestly dont know what I'm going to do, I dont want to flip burgers... and I have a limited skill set.

EDIT: Projects are still getting done, I'm still going in to work. The company is functioning, just poorly. I just dont know for how long...

Honest question, did you think this would last forever? That this small business will be there when you are 65? I'm assuming you are young, you could still pick up a skill.