I decided to try to do a profile myself of a company here in Utah that is an international force that does a good worth of damage in sales on a yearly basis, and has been around long enough to prove that they're not just a fluke - Blue Table Painting. Also, it didn't hurt that I was sort of looking to see if they were hiring an online editor/content creator because their writing is. . . interesting.
Although the company is producing sales in the range of $3,000 a customer, the organization and leadership of the entire company is lacking.
For those that don't know, BTP is a company that does commissioned pieces for table top games. You pay them money, they get your army ready for you. However, due to some shotty leadership that is so heads in the clouds, and not focused at all on the bottom line, the only reason that they are able to stay alive is because they're one of the only reliable companies in the world to provide this service.
I was supposed to meet the owner at 11, and even in his email he said to give him a text before I left to verify that I was on my way. I did. There was no response. I drove all the way to Spanish Fork, was outside the studio, and texted him again asking him if it was still okay to do the interview. No response. I went inside and started to look around (there was one teenage boy just jamming out to music blasting through the speaker system not paying attention to the world, with at least a few thousand dollars worth of merchandise, books, gear, dice, and everything else that is part of the wargaming hobby, just out in the open.
It wasn't until after looking around and trying to see what was in the studio that I managed to get a text back to him telling me that he'd have to re-schedule because he was in Salt Lake (about an hour and a half away) or I could talk to Tamie.
I decided I was not going to waste another Friday on trying to schedule a meeting when he would apparently just forget about me, so I stopped the boy from jamming out, and asked for Tamie.
It turns out that Tamie is in charge of shipping and the online store, and is also the ex-wife of the owner, with a heavy dose of the ex-drama. She didn't pull punches and was brutally honest about the company.
I started to ask questions about the online presence the store has and . . . well. . . she admitted that it used to be ran by staff, but it hadn't been updated since almost a year ago because the staff was no longer with the team. There are elements of it that are outdated, links are misdirected, and things look generally unkept, because they are. There's no one in the company that has any knowledge of how to do webdesign, and there's no budget to fix it, so it is permanently stuck at where it's at until management can figure out a way to afford it. And that seems to be the general theme of the entire company for the entire interview.
Things are a bit off (like the lack of customer reviews online) but the owner doesn't know how to include that as part of his marketing, so he doesn't do it. There is no marketing or sales team because the owner doesn't know how to do that, and can't afford someone who does. Everything that would be a worth wile investment (like an understandable sales and pricing system to give at least a general idea to the cost of a purchase) is not fixed because the owner likes the confusion and blocky way that he has it now.
Then comes the quality of work. While I was there, there were some large pieces that were champions or lords that were decently done. They were detailed, there was work involved, and there was some decent quality stuff. Maybe, not the quality worth the money that was being paid, but it was still decent stuff that I could point at and go, 'wow, that was pretty good'. The unfortunate end to this, is the low quality stuff.
If you're not willing to pay a significant amount of money, and I do mean significant, expect dry brushing to be the main tool of choice for blue table painting.
For those wondering to paint that figure above you need a few things. First a black primer, then you'd do the white/silver sections, dry brushed. Then you'd do the red sections, dry brushed. From the looks of it if you're feeling nice you'd might do a bit of normal brush work on the red area highlights, but it could just be a heavy dry brushing. You'd then paint in the grey for the gun sections that the character is holding on to, and top it all off with green dots for eyes. Four layers of paint, and you're done. Generally speaking, it is simplistic painting.
What's funny is that when talking about painting, on the company blog, they show competitors paintings, and it doesn't even compare.
Why would you show something that detailed and amazing when your own work isn't?
The weirdest part about this entire situation is to find real pictures of their work is actually REALLY hard to do. You can find pictures of lots that they're selling, but generally speaking a lot is an army that they bought from someone else, and are reselling without doing any painting or modifications to. The more you look for actual painting done from BTP, that is accepted as BTP's work, and not just something they're selling that someone else made, it's difficult to find any pieces online of their own. They have youtube videos and they have some online media, but all things considering, for such a visual product that needs to be seen to be understood, there sure is a strong vacuum of no information out there for the company's products.
I guess the best question that I asked was what the company's five year plan was.
She couldn't answer it. The big plan that the company had in the next five years was to not go under.
This is one of those companies that I look at and say that they could have a really amazing thing going for them. Their quality is a little lacking, but they make up for that quality in raw speed. Where other groups might take months (or even years) to do a paint job, they get figures on the table in weeks. However, because management doesn't know how to manage, market, advertise, do social media, and all of those other important elements of running a business like this, they are slowly loosing an up hill battle. All things considering (even with my limited business knowledge) BTP, could seriously use one full time staff to make sure their online presence is moderated and up to date. To run simple campaigns to advertise, or even run very small and simple events would bring some well needed attention to the company, and most importantly, showing the actual work done by the company to the public would do wonders. It makes me worry when a company isn't up front about what they do and BTP is in that category of not being as transparent as I would like, which leads to some very dissatisfied customers.
It's a good company. The market is there for it, there is a distinct advantage that they have (speed, reliability), and their customers are willing to pay TOP dollar for it. The potential for a sustainable company is right there, however the management is not marketing or displaying their product as effectively as they could, and they're missing out on key elements that could strengthen their market and their bottom line, so instead of being comfortable where they're at, they keep floundering around trying to do their best, while being led by a former fourth grade teacher turned CEO.
Fun side note - they originally were going to name their company Blue Door Painting (they owned a store with a blue door) but then found out that Blue Door is a rather adult company, and decided to change it to something not so X rated. Bonus round to that side note - the owner's name is Shawn Gately and there happened to be an adult film star that used that name as well. It was a great way to start out a company.
