Quote:
Originally Posted by TNovak
This has been true since the attempted jump to bigger company with Frazetta stuff. Prior to that when his company was pretty much just him sculpting and handling there was never these kind of issues. It has been 5 years Since the Frazetta line knee capped him which seems like a long time but if you have ever owned or been involved in a business that has cash flow problems it is REALLY hard to climb back out. I don't think Arahom is bad at business or finances but like a lot of sole owners or small businesses that try to expand if they take a chance and put literally everything they have and max out their financing options then if it doesn't go pretty smooth (understatement in this case) and you need to come up with some short term financing or operating money until longer term stuff starts paying dividends there is no where to go to get it.
Again I don't know Arahom's finances and never talked to him about it but I would bet he probably had stressed his own personal finances to keep this thing going, likely his own credit cards and a loan against his house, if he owns one. I think he has plans and is doing things to get back on firmer ground and hopefully he will but in the mean time the hits to his reputation further exacerbate an already bad situation. I will still order stuff either from him or his retailers if it interests me. I would order Hades and Aphrodite right away for example if they were available.
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People have been dissatisfied with ARH's customer service for a good bit before the Frazetta stuff of course just not to the same fevered pitch. That's why I decided to hold off until release. A business can't rely on "customer service" to get by which is really just a failure of the main service/product of the business.
I know it is really hard to climb back out of a bad business decision. But people make stupid business decisions all the time. Look how many stupid restaurants open and close all because someone thought they made good food like all the stupid cupcake craze a few years back. Their customers aren't financially at risk though just their vendors and creditors which goes hand and hand with running a business NOT being a consumer.
And I have bought from ARH, even directly but from the safety of PayPal and Credit Card dispute term limits or retailers that will fully refund POs past delivery schedules. The gospel I preach is waged against the PO model. The risk of people paying actual money for Arahom's statues shall be solely Arahom's and not mine.
I like Arahom's choice of source material and style but nothing is worth it being on the backs of other customers.
Arahom extended himself AND by extension his customers too thin. You don't go all in and risk everything you have AND your customers funds. Nowadays people chase business dreams without understanding financial risks.
And really there is no end in sight for this. The industry has passed Arahom by, especially with regard to obtaining factory time, and the market is saturated. Like so many others Arahom has tried to make a living with his art. It often doesn't workout and then it's time to get a damn job.
He will likely die owing people money they can't recoup and that isn't okay all for the sake of his art when his "art" has proven to not be economically or financially viable.
Arahom is clearly the kind of guy that doesn't give up, most of all on his own dreams, but when you are chasing at the expense of others there's some point when it's time to throw in the towel.