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doll-lashes · 1 year

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Inside look at small business manufacturing in Japan

Written by Connie from the Atelier Pierrot team

(transcript available later in the post)

I wanted to document and share this informative post that was shared by Connie who works at Atelier Pierrot, containing an inside look into small businesses' manufacturing in Japan, which is a category that covers almost all Japanese lolita fashion brands. The post is focused on releasing plus sizing, which is not very common for a lot of Japanese brands. Below are the charts which were included in the post.

It was noted that for the Bustle Corset JSK, the sizing between Size 1 and 2 had more overlap, in the hopes of finding the best proportions. This was due to experimenting with sizing proportions and ranges, the goal of this was to potentially increase the range of sizing, while producing fewer sizes.

Below the "Keep reading" section is a plain text transcript, for anybody using a screen reader. I have made use of formatted headings in order to make it easier to move between sections, as the text is quite long.

Inside look at small business manufacturing in Japan

Japanese brands' manufacturing processes are usually quite mysterious, and I think there are lots of misconceptions overseas, especially when it comes to plus size releases.

Although there's some points I can't go into too much detail for, as the person leading the plus size releases for a Japanese brand I have done a lot of research and have a lot of stats to facilitate the development of these releases.

This will be quite long, and with a lot of interacting factors but I've tried to break it up into sections to make it more manageable for people with no executive function (like me).

General Release Size

The first thing to understand is - Japanese brands are all small businesses. They are not huge companies making 1000 of each dress. Typically, even the "big" brands are making 200-300 of each release, across all colourways. Popular releases will sometimes be larger scale. (AP is an exception, but their manufacturing process is very different and they're generally an anomaly in lolita - but still a small business that is at risk if just one of their releases is enough of a flop. They've also said that they have no interest in doing plus size releases, and they have a sufficiently large market in China currently that they don't need to take the financial risk of starting plus size).

Plus Size Market Size

Within this general market, the plus size market is actually incredibly small, and most overseas lolitas completely overestimate the size.

(For reference, in Japan Bust 100cm, Waist 80cm would be considered L/XL. Anything above this is definitely plus size. Remember that when a Japanese brand uses the term "plus size", they are likely to be referring to Japanese plus size which makes up the majority of their market).

For releases that have a plus size version, the plus size sales make up about 15-30% of all sales. Typically, it's 22-25%. This is the same for both Meta and AtePie (with overall sales numbers being comparative).

Say there's 300 items across colourways for a release (Meta's "regular" size and AtePie's Size 1), proportionally, it might have 75-100 items for all plus size pieces, across all sizes.

I've tried to show these ratios with the graph shared on this main post, but have not said the exact sales numbers. It's worth noting that the Douceur Cutsew had a particularly good sales ratio for plus size, and the Bustle Corset JSK is currently in progress, ending 7/21. The number of plus size sales will increase a little until then, but so will the Size 1.

Doing small-size runs (less than 50 pieces per size) is incredibly costly, which I'll go into more detail for later.

Differences in Japanese Vs overseas buying practices

Although of course they still buy some items secondhand, Japanese lolitas are FAR more likely to buy new and support the brands they love. However, most overseas lolitas tend to buy secondhand, or very rarely new direct from Japanese brands (even for accessories).

This obviously doesn't mesh well with the plus size manufacturing system, which has to be MTO due to the small market and risks of production.

Generally, when Japanese customers request an item be rereleased/made in a new colour etc, typically 80% of people requesting will actually purchase. When overseas lolitas make item requests, typically 30% will purchase. This obviously has a huge impact on each market's buying power, and is something that has to be considered when releasing items.

The influence of overseas customers is much less strong/reliable. However, the plus size market is largely overseas, making up about 80-95% of plus size purchases (regardless of brand). As you can imagine, this combined with the lower amount of overseas customers buying new means that the actual demand for plus size releases is very small.

(Actual demand = people who actually buy the items, not just a desire to have them made)

Plus size actual demand

As you might have noticed, Meta has stopped doing their Plus Plus size releases due to insufficient demand. Atelier Pierrot plus size releases (especially size 3 and 4) are currently under review, based on previous plus size sales.

I am really pushing to find solutions to continue plus size releases, but short of putting the manufacturer or brand at risk, there's very little extra that me or AtePie can do.

Japanese brands absolutely should not put themselves at financial risk for any release just for the sake of it being made, especially if there's insufficient support.

In general, the solution is - customers who want to see more of certain releases should support these releases by purchasing new, especially for plus size where the Japanese market cannot be relied on to bolster the sales. This is actually how I've been able to propose more purple releases with AtePie recently! Purple is relatively popular in Japan, but people really love it overseas!

If people don't order plus size items new, they simply will not be manufactured.

It's very unlikely to find the size that you'd need secondhand, especially in the colourway you like best, if only a small amount were ordered in the first place.

Manufacturing process and costs (general)

During the manufacturing process, the item is first designed (and print, if applicable), fabric, trim and colourways are chosen, measurements/pattern is modelled and decided. A sample is made (in the real fabric, to determine how it drapes etc). Adjustments are made to the sample and if necessary another sample is made. Brands will typically try to avoid making the second sample wherever possible because it's very expensive, but sometimes it's unavoidable. Then, the pricing is determined and if it's a general release the number of each item to be released is decided. Colourways are released in different numbers based on demand. As a gothic brand, Atelier Pierrot produces more of the black colourway of each item.

The price is determined by the overhead manufacturing costs, material/trim costs, pattern making, shipping of materials/products, among other things.

The sample commission and pattern cutting are the most costly parts of item development. Designers really don't make much at all and work long hours - for many of the "big" brands it still works out as approximately minimum wage, which is about 1000 yen per hour in Japan.

If the main designer is also the brand owner (e.g AtePie, Sheglit), of course they make more money but they still aren't millionaires by any stretch of the imagination.

Lolita is a passion project for many of the people involved, which is why brands may just stop if people get burnt out/lose that passion (Boz).

Manufacturing process and costs (plus size)

Plus size releases follow this same general process. However, multiple sizing means that multiple samples must be made. Samples must be made in all colours and all sizes to make sure that they come out as expected. For reference, the current AtePie Bustle Corset JSK samples were:

Size 2 - black x white, purple

Size 3 - navy, bordeaux

Size 4 - purple, black

These additional samples add a huge amount of cost (usually it's 200-300k yen for main piece samples in each size, but this varies). If an item is rereleased in the same fabric, another sample wouldn't be necessary. Items released in another fabric would need another sample.

Having small runs of less than 50 of each Plus Size sizing increases the cost per item.

Another additional cost is adjusting the patterns to fit plus size bodies. AtePie adjusts all measurements, not just bust and waist (shoulder width, arm circumference, arm scye, bodice length, skirt circumference etc). Most Japanese brands and manufactures aren't familiar with how to adjust patterns for plus sizing (especially Western plus size), so this stage often has to be outsourced, which is more costly. As time goes on, the measurement range would become more familiar and require less work/lower costs each time (which could be passed on to the customers). However, this could only happen with long term plus size production.

However, plus size dresses are always going to cost more than the size 1 to manufacture. I'm sure a lot of people are aware that the material cost is significantly higher. If a waist circumference is 20cm larger, to have proportional gathering it usually requires ~60cm extra fabric. Adding gathered chiffon on top means an additional 180cm of fabric. These material costs quickly add up.

A cost that many people aren't aware of is the "pattern cutting cost". Most Size 1 lolita releases fit on a single pattern sheet, to be cut out onto fabric by the manufacturer. However, plus size releases have larger measurements and usually require two or more pattern sheets (for main pieces). This is paid by sheet, meaning that this stage of the manufacturing process costs 2-3x as much as Size 1 for every single item made.

To avoid these additional costs raising the price of plus size pieces too much, AtePie absorbs a lot of these extra costs. However, this of course means that the profit margin is much lower despite all the extra difficulties/hard work involved, which is a strain for a small business (which all lolita brands are).

AtePie Size 1 and Plus Size Blooming Rose Corsets were the same price because we just absorbed all extra costs. The Douceur Cutsew had less than 1000 yen price difference (due to much higher manufacture costs), but most was still absorbed. The Bustle Corset JSK has a larger price difference because it's an incredibly expensive piece to produce (difference in volume of fabric due to all the ruffles, requires 2-3 pattern sheets to be cut, more QC costs etc), but AtePie is still trying to absorb as much of the costs as possible.

We absolutely will not force the plus size manufacturer to absorb these extra costs because we do not want to put them at risk of closing.

If Japanese brands were to spread these extra plus size costs to the Size 1/"Regular" size, it would alienate the Japanese market and greatly affect sales, which is really not possible when Japanese customers still make up the vast majority of customers

Quality control issues

It can be hard to find manufacturers that are capable of making lolita pieces. Lolita is much harder to make than regular fashion pieces, with lots of unique details and construction techniques. Brands really try to hold onto long term partnerships with specific manufacturers to minimise mistakes, but they still sometimes happen.

A common mistake is the skirt circumference, especially the lining - often the manufacturer can't believe that there'd be so much VOLUME to the skirt and make a mistake with the measurement. This is often at the initial sampling stage, but sometimes it's the occasional stock item and caught during the Quality Control stage.

Whenever possible, these are returned and corrected to minimise waste. If it's not possible to correct something, they may be sold as B Grade items.

AtePie works with a few different manufacturers for different types of items. For the one of the main manufacturers, we've been working with them for more than 30 years and they have a very good understanding of our designs, but mistakes are occasionally made still.

Manufacture in China usually has a much higher number of mistakes/QC issues, so although it's cheaper than Japanese manufacture it involves a lot more QC, and sometimes expensive/time consuming shipping back to be fixed.

These problems are all exacerbated by adding plus size releases. Manufacturers are unfamiliar with the larger measurements and more likely to get confused/make mistakes. It's more common to have mixed measurements (e.g. the bust is Size 3 but the hem circumference is Size 2). This adds a much longer QC period to make sure defective items aren't sent to customers, which is also costly in terms of labour.

This is why it's so vital that AtePie works to support the manufacturer capable of doing plus size releases without adding additional financial strain to them. We really really want the manufacturer to be able to continue making plus size pieces.

Risk for brands and manufacturers

Meta almost became bankrupt when they started doing plus size releases, and their current manufacturing system is not really sustainable or ideal for the future of plus size releases. Often doing plus size releases is a huge financial risk both for manufacturers and the brand involved.

As mentioned before, manufacturers that can do plus size are very rare in Japan. If one of the very few places that can do plus size closes down, it is highly unlikely it reopen. The current manufacturer in Japan that can do plus size pieces is currently in a very weak financial position due to a former contract with a (non lolita) brand doing plus size. If it is forced to close, it'll be a HUGE blow to plus size availablity in Japan (again, not just lolita).

Summary

As you can see, the plus size market is really not big at all, and on top of that it's financially risky for lolita brands to get involved with.

AtePie (and mostly me as the person in charge) are working really hard to try to make releases more accessible, but it is done out of passion for lolita and not because it's a lucrative market. If there is sufficient support, over time it may become easier to release plus size items more often, and with very little/no price difference (this is my goal!)

However, this is a goal that is entirely dependent on overseas customer support.

Buying new from lolita brands is the best way to show the brand where the market might exist and encourage more of the items you want to see. Supporting AtePie plus size releases will also allow us to in turn support the plus size manufacturer and hopefully allow them to continue making plus size pieces (not only lolita) into the future.

Even though this is a hugely long explanation, I've still barely covered the basics. I hope it was still informative for people!

#egl #gothic lolita #elegant gothic lolita #lolita #atelier pierrot #metamorphose temps de fille #metamorphose #lolita fashion #jfashion #japanese fashion #harajuku fashion #lolita plus size #classic lolita

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juni-ravenhall · 2 months

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when i was on sso doing champs those past days i overheard a convo in global between some ppl. one said they had spent 9000kr (~900$€) on sso in the past year (but did regret doing so). the other replied that theyd prob spent 15-20k kr (~1.500-2000$€) on their sso acc throughout the years

these things just baffle me so much and i cant rly see it any other way than that ppl get emotionally manipulated by game companies to do these things. the things poor ppl could do with this money vs what these middle class ppl spend it on... while not even making them happy. while regretting spending it. i seriously plea with middle class ppl to consider commissioning artists or giving to ppl in ur fandoms' ko-fi and whatnot instead of all this shit.

during the convo one of them mentions feeling like they had to buy every horse that sse was retiring, since they'll never be able to get them again. and buy every magic horse, since they're not always for sale. FOMO capitalist manipulation. as an adult, its ur responsibility to be able to recognise FOMO and to seek help (in the same vein as gambling addiction) if u cant stop yourself from spending on things that are irrational (as in: youre not even happy to spend it, and its not a necessity, you feel pressured to spend it).

however, kids cant be expected to recognise and withstand FOMO and other marketing tactics. which is why its so important that sso and other games (and their companies) get investigated and regulated by consumer protection agencies.

its also a fact that many of these ppl who have spent 100s of $€ on sso are ppl who have likely been playing since they were minors, which means their developing brains were affected by things like sso FOMO when they were at an age where they still didnt rly understand the value of money, what reasonable costs are, what theyre getting for their money, long term consequences, etc. even if theyre adults now, and responsible for their own choices (and for getting help with FOMO spending). its hard to fight back against brainwash for anyone, even if you have to try.

anyway u dont like to hear it but again if ur middleclass pls fucking think about how you spend money. 500+ $€ for sso in your lifetime is batshit insane. nothing in sso has ever been worth that and the company is not good enough to support in that way (yes, im sure x staff member works very hard and is a poor meow meow, but thats not relevant when the company itself is unethical in manipulation of children + doesnt respect its paying players + is questionable in treatment of staff and contract workers + has rarely made any sense in its entire history as a game developer)

aside from supporting struggling creatives (commissions, ko-fi, patreon, small businesses, etc) u can also opt for games that dont feature subscriptions or microtransactions (or, if they do, look for ones with fair pricing for the quality). there are tons of great games that dont come with unethical microtransactions or with subs, you pay once and then you have it. ofc the horse game market is still really lacking and thats just how it is right now.

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sean-parnell · 2 months

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How Manufacturers Can Leverage Content Marketing to Grow

Cold calls, print advertising, tradeshow participation, and knocking on doors once worked well manufacturers can no longer rely on them to generate leads that fuel sustainable, double-digit growth despite having an effective sales team that may still have some skills in these areas.

Inbound lead generation in commercial and industrial markets requires compelling brand storytelling and thought leadership that educates prospects along the buyer’s journey, who don’t want to talk with salespeople before they’re good and ready as they fear being “sold to” by people that don’t have their best interest in mind.

Problems Solved vs. Products & Services, Features & Benefits

Powerfully resonating with prospects requires brand storytelling that converts website visitors into prospects then into customers.

Your brand story begins with having a deep understanding of the problems faced by your prospects, what they need to overcome them, and the value to them in doing so before promoting all of your products and services and their features and benefits. Prospects are searching for who can solve their problems and may have a limited understanding of what will solve their problems, so claiming your solutions are “the best” and that you’re an “industry leader” may mean nothing until they have an understanding of how your products will help them.

The hero of your prospects’ story is themselves, so you need to educate them on how you can solve their problems, and how your people, process, products, and services – not just products – do so. This is what will resonate powerfully with them. In this way, you serve as a guide for achieving success and avoiding failure. Your products and services with their features and benefits are how you solve these problems..

Thus, your “brand story” needs to be told throughout all of your marketing: on your home and about pages, blogs, guides, case studies, marketing collateral, presentations, proposals, press releases, third-party website profiles, direct mail, email campaigns, your tagline, and anywhere else you promote your company.

A brand story for each product and service you sell can also be developed as each of them solves different problems in different ways for different markets. This “sub-brand storytelling” is also effective for different vertical and geographic markets as each has different requirements.

Extracting & Promoting Thought Leadership

When they have a problem that they want to solve – because the pain of not changing exceeds the pain of the change – prospects self-educate themselves by researching the internet before speaking with any vendors, so it’s important to provide educational content that will help them understand how you can solve their problems:

TOFU: Top of Funnel: this content builds awareness by providing an overview of the problems you solve and how your products solve them

MOFU: Middle Funnel: this content goes one level deeper and helps them consider between different options that can solve their problem

BOFU: Bottom Funnel: this content gets very specific and helps prospects make their final decisions

OOFU: Out of Funnel: this content is created in a misguided attempt to maximize keyword rankings and website traffic as part of a flawed search engine optimization strategy (SEO) but fails to generate leads though can be quite costly

Tip: it’s important to have a good balance of all types of content (except OOFU).

It’s especially important for manufacturers to understand that, in addition to learning about how you solve their problems with your products and services, your prospects want to know how your solutions and business practices compare with both direct and indirect competitors. They also want to understand how their investment can be cost-justified so they can sell the idea of buying from you to internal decision makers that may not be in communication with you. Product comparisons are very useful because this is what prospects try to compile themselves, especially if they include areas where your competitors have an advantage over yours. Case studies that include return on investment (ROI) estimates are also highly useful for prospects.

Lead-Generating Content Begins with Keyword Research

Understanding and prioritizing what your prospects are searching for is a critical first step for lead generation, which begins with conducting keyword research on all the different terms your prospects may use.

Onsite SEO then fully leverages the content you’ve already developed when you work the highest priority keyword phrases into your page titles, meta descriptions, H1 headers, and throughout the content of each page – just remember it has to read well and should only be performed by someone that thoroughly understands your business and what prospects value.

Brainstorming content ideas that incorporate these keyword phrases and educates prospects along the buyer’s journey is the next step, following by prioritizing these content ideas into an editorial calendar. The best content comes from getting a professional copywriter to interview your company’s thought leaders and then writing up what is learned in the form of foundational website content, blogs and guides.

Best Practice: Google Search Console reports the keywords people searched for to find you.

Creating Lead Magnets

When your prospects discover that you are providing education and thought leadership for how you can solve their problems, many will be willing to provide their contact information to download this gated content – especially long-form, MOFU and BOFU content including guides, whitepapers, ebooks, and webinars. It’s also important that your contact forms ask prospects where they found out about you so you can attribute each download to the marketing or other activities that generated them. It’s not recommend to gate promotional material that prospects expect to be freely available, including blogs, brochures, data sheets, infographics, case studies, and similar materials.

Promoting MOFU and BOFU also generate even more website traffic and leads, including in Google Ads, LinkedIn Campaigns, Microsoft Ads and other pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, your social media profiles (especially LinkedIn and Twitter), on third-party article publishing sites (e.g. Medium), and throughout your public relations activities.

The Manufacturing Content Creation & Lead Generation Process

Here are the steps for creating content that has been proven to generate leads and product sales from many commercial and industrial manufacturers:

Conduct keyword research and optimize all of your current content for search

Develop brand storytelling and implement it throughout your home and about pages, marketing collateral, presentations, and all other marketing materials

Write blogs and publish them on a consistent schedule, educating prospects on a wide variety of topics that help them understand how your products and services will solve their problems

Syndicate unique versions of this content on high ranking, third-party websites

Launch Google ads and email campaigns to bring more prospects in

Create microsites to promote how you solve specific problems in your top vertical markets

Launch ecommerce to supplement sales through your channel partners for people that want to speak with and buy directly from you – just don’t undercut them, so selling only at list price is recommended

Evaluate new market opportunities where your current competitors are irrelevant with Blue Ocean Strategy

This approach routinely generates sustainable, double-digit sales growth with an ROI of over 300% within 12-18 months when executed by an experienced industrial marketing agency – and your company will no longer be a well-kept secret in your markets.

The Case for a Marketing Audit

While it may be appealing to hire a full-time content marketer, SEO specialist, or to outsource to a manufacturing marketing agency that may wow you with shiny objects, conducting deep dive marketing due diligence with an experience marketing consulting resource understands your industry is typically a better way to start.

An effective marketing audit will identify what it will take for you to generate sustainable, double-digit growth by leveraging brand storytelling, content marketing, SEO, content syndication, email campaigns, marketing automation, social media, advertising, PR, and more.

Most marketing audits focus only on promotional marketing communications, so you may want to find an industrial marketing agency that can auditing the other three Ps of your marketing: products and services, pricing and placement (selling through channels and go-to-market strategy).

#manufacturing marketing #industrial marketing #b2b marketing agency #content marketing #search engine optimization (SEO)#brand storytelling

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adventure-showdown · 10 months

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What is your favourite Doctor Who story?

ROUND 2 MASTERPOST

synopses and propaganda under the cut

Anachrophobia

Synopsis

Imagine a war. A war that has lasted centuries, a war which has transformed an entire planet into a desolate No Man's Land. A war where time itself is being used as a weapon.

You can create zones of decelerated time and bring the enemy troops to a standstill. You can create storms of accelerated time and reduce the opposition to dust in a matter of seconds.

But now the war has reached a stalemate. Neither the Plutocrats nor the Defaulters have made any gains for over a hundred years.

The Doctor, Fitz and Anji arrive at Isolation Station Forty, a military research establishment on the verge of a breakthrough. A breakthrough which will change the entire course of the war.

They have found a way to send soldiers back in time. But time travel is a primitive, unpredictable and dangerous business. And not without its own sinister side effects...

Propaganda

YOU THINK MIDNIGHT IS SCARY? YOU THINK MIDNIGHT IS HORROR? TRY READING ANACHROPHOBIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! imagine. there is a war that has been raging for centuries between two groups - the plutocrats and the defaulters (YEAH THIS IS ALSO A COMMENTARY ON THE FUTILITY OF CAPITALISM AND WAR ECONOMICS!) - and both sides have developed time technology that allows them to either Speed Time Up (which can age someone to dust in the span of a few seconds) or Slow Time Down (trapping someone in a single second for millennia). the doctor and his friends are trapped in a military base that is studying time travel. they send a pod into the past, but when it comes back it brings Something With It. something that makes people Lose Their Whole Past and relive moments again and again. and also turns their faces into clocks. read this fuckkng book (@eightdoctor )

ANACHROPHOBIA ANACHROPHOBIA ANACHROPHOBIA ITS SO GOOD ITS SO GOOD YOU DONT UNDERSTAND YOU DONT UNDERSTAND. IT DEALS WITH THE TIME JUST AFTER (TWO BOOKS AFTER) THE DOCTOR HAD HIS SECOND HEART REMOVED AND IT DOES IT SO WELL. ‘‘LIKE A MAN WHO HAS LOST AN ARM STILL BEING ABLE TO SENSE MOVEMENTS IN HIS FINGERS. LIKE A MAN WHO STILL SOMETIMES FEELS THE BEAT OF A SECOND HEART’’ ARATFTFY ITS SO GOOD IT CHANGED MY BRAIN CHEMISTRY. THE LAST TWO BOOKS (MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN + HOPE) DIDNT MENTION MUCH ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF LOSING AN ENTIRE FUCKING HEART BUT ANACHROPHOBIA IS ALL ABOUT IT. THE DOCTOR IS SICK, WEAKER THAN USUAL, FITZ AND ANJI ARE CONCERNED, SO CONCERNED THEY’RE WONDERING IF HE CAN LIVE WITH ONLY ONE HEART. THEY GET OXYGEN CANNISTERS AND A MASK OUT FOR HIM JUST IN CASE!!!!! AND OH THE BODY HORROR OH THE BODY HORROR. IT'S GOOD ITS SO GOOD. AND SABBATH IS IN IT AND HES DISGUISED AS A GUY (ISN'T REVEALED UNTIL THE END) AND HE PRETENDS TO PANIC WHEN HE REALISES HIS COWORKERS ARE DEAD AND IT MAKES ME FEEL SICK SO SICK WHEN I REALISED HIS EMOTION WAS FAKE. ITS GOOD ITS SO GOOD ITS SO FUCKING GOOD (nix)

Alien Bodies

Synopsis

On an island in the East Indies, in a lost city buried deep in the heart of the rainforest, agents of the most formidable powers in the galaxy are gathering. They have been invited there to bid for what could turn out to be the deadliest weapon ever created.

When the Doctor and Sam arrive in the city, the Time Lord soon realises they've walked into the middle of the strangest auction in history — and what's on sale to the highest bidder is something more horrifying than even the Doctor could have imagined, something that could change his life forever.

And just when it seems things can't get any worse, the Doctor finds out who else is on the guest list.

Propaganda

Doctor ends up at an auction for his own dead body (anonymous)

One of the most notable Eighth Doctor books, the first by Lawrence Miles and the beginning of Faction Paradox. Generally very good. (anonymous)

Banger of a story where 8 goes to an auction in order to purchase 3's dead body. Then the weird shit starts happening. (@eighthdoctor )

#round 2

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anti-clerical · 3 months

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Luxury vs. Affordability: Choosing Brand New Cars for Car Carrier Business

When venturing into the reliable car transporters business, one of the crucial decisions that business owners face is choosing between luxury and affordability in brand-new cars. The choice between these two categories can significantly impact the operation and profitability of a car carrier business.

In this blog, we will delve into the factors that car shipping business owners should consider when making this decision, explore the advantages and disadvantages of both options, and provide actionable insights and recommendations to help them navigate this critical choice.

Understanding the Factors

Target Market and Customer Preferences

The first factor to consider when choosing between luxury and affordability in brand-new cars for a car carrier business is the target market. Understanding the customer preferences and demands of the market segment you aim to serve is crucial. Luxury cars may appeal to high-end clients who prioritize comfort, style, and status, while affordable cars could be more attractive to budget-conscious customers seeking practical and economical transportation solutions.

Cost and Investment

The cost of acquiring luxury cars versus affordable ones is a critical consideration. While luxury cars may entail a higher initial investment, they often come with premium features and a prestigious brand image.

On the other hand, affordable cars may require a lower upfront investment, making them more accessible for businesses with budget constraints.

Maintenance and Operational Costs

Maintenance and operational costs play a significant role in the decision-making process. Luxury cars typically require more expensive maintenance and repairs due to their advanced features and specialized components. In contrast, affordable cars usually have lower maintenance costs, contributing to overall operational savings.

Potential Profitability

Assessing the potential profitability of transporting luxury and affordable cars is essential. While luxury car transportation may yield higher profit margins per vehicle, the demand for a reliable car shipping services could be more substantial, resulting in higher overall revenue.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Luxury Cars

Advantages:

Higher profit margins per vehicle

Attracts high-end clientele.

Prestigious brand image

Disadvantages:

Higher initial investment

Increased maintenance costs

Limited target market

Affordable Cars

Advantages:

Lower initial investment

Larger target market

Reduced maintenance costs

Disadvantages:

Lower profit margins per vehicle

Less prestigious brand image

Industry Insights and Recommendations

Industry Trends

According to industry trends and market research, there is a growing demand for professional car shipping services due to the rise in online car sales and the expansion of the used car market.

However, the luxury car segment remains lucrative for specialized high-end transportation services catering to affluent clients.

Recommendations

Based on the factors and insights discussed, here are actionable recommendations for car carrier business owners:

Market Segmentation: Consider diversifying the car carrier fleet to accommodate both luxury and affordable cars, catering to a broader customer base.

Cost-Benefit Analysis: Conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the long-term financial implications of transporting luxury and affordable cars.

Service Differentiation: Develop tailored service packages for luxury and affordable car shipping, emphasizing the unique value propositions of each segment.

The decision to choose between luxury and affordability in brand-new cars for a car carrier business requires careful consideration of various factors.

By understanding the target market, assessing costs, and leveraging industry insights, business owners can make informed decisions that align with their long-term strategic goals and maximize profitability in the competitive car shipping industry.

youtube

#car transport #car carrier #auto transport #car blogging #Youtube

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tierras · 1 year

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can you please share on how you got a fashion buyer job and what that entails? i wanna do it so bad thank uuuu

of course 💕 i did a professional designation program at a fashion school that was just focused on buying. there i learned the foundation of the job basically, excel, retail math, trend analysis, etc. what opened the door to the actual industry was landing a buying internship (my school literally didn't help with getting this btw 🙄). i was able to get that internship because of my education and also because i had a lot of experience with excel (from my previous career). excel is sooo major in this career so make sure you're good on that (a lot of vlookup and pivot tables)!! after my internship, my boss offered me a permanent position as an assistant buyer. internal hiring is sooo huge in the industry that's why it's so hard to get your foot in the door and also fashion buying is so niche.

fashion buying is different anywhere you go, depending on your brand/company's business model, whether you're doing retail or private label. so im currently an assistant buyer and ngl it's an insane amount of work! i manage 8 categories (kms) along with my senior buyer. for all those categories, im in charge of samples, purchase orders, trend analysis and inspo, pulling and analyzing sales reports, vendor relations, help with fittings, any marketing stuff that my buyer doesn't wanna do, help assorting for the seasons, ITO's, and a lot of manual labor that i wasn't expecting lol as for buyers they do more of the actual decisions and justifying their buys with actual numbers (last year vs. this year) , history, trend predictions, knowledge of our customers, etc. figure out prices, what and how much of items go to what stores, ecom, fittings, developing product, chasing product. it's a lot of pressure to be a buyer, a lot falls on your shoulders because you are the sole person responsible for your category's success or failure! i wish u all the luck and lmk if u have any more questions <3

#i honestly don't even know if i want to become a buyer tbh lmao i've seen too many of them struggle and have actual #breakdowns #not to desuade you or scare you but it is such an intense career!!#i've been so inactive on here because of this job! i get home and knock out #honestly thinking of just opening a store bc i'd be the buyer and everything else lol like i would really just have to report to myself yk

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jennkitty · 1 year

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Today on Rufflechat: Connie of Atelier Pierrot made a post detailing the work put into making plus sized releases. For those unaware they are the International Marketing Manager for the brand and has worked to bring out the new plus sized items. I’m reposting it here to make it a bit easier to reference later outside of fb. This will be a long read!!

✨Inside look at small business manufacturing in Japan✨

Japanese brands' manufacturing processes are usually quite mysterious, and I think there are lots of misconceptions overseas, especially when it comes to plus size releases.

This will be quite long, and with a lot of interacting factors but I've tried to break it up into sections to make it more manageable for people with no executive function (like me).

⭐ General release size

⭐ Plus size market size

Within this general market, the plus size market is actually incredibly small, and most overseas lolitas completely overestimate the size.

Say there's 300 items across colourways for a release (Meta's "regular" size and AtePie's Size 1), proportionally, it might have 75-100 items for all plus size pieces, across all sizes.

Doing small-size runs (less than 50 pieces per size) is incredibly costly, which I'll go into more detail for later.

⭐ Differences in Japanese Vs overseas buying practices.

This obviously doesn't mesh well with the plus size manufacturing system, which has to be MTO due to the small market and risks of production.

(Actual demand = people who actually buy the items, not just a desire to have them made)

⭐ Plus size actual demand

I am really pushing to find solutions to continue plus size releases, but short of putting the manufacturer or brand at risk, there's very little extra that me or AtePie can do.

Japanese brands absolutely should not put themselves at financial risk for any release just for the sake of it being made, especially if there's insufficient support.

If people don't order plus size items new, they simply will not be manufactured.

It's very unlikely to find the size that you'd need secondhand, especially in the colourway you like best, if only a small amount were ordered in the first place.

⭐ Manufacturing process and costs (general)

The price is determined by the overhead manufacturing costs, material/trim costs, pattern making, shipping of materials/products, among other things.

If the main designer is also the brand owner (e.g AtePie, Sheglit), of course they make more money but they still aren't millionaires by any stretch of the imagination.

Lolita is a passion project for many of the people involved, which is why brands may just stop if people get burnt out/lose that passion (Boz).

⭐ Manufacturing process and costs (plus size)

Size 2 - black x white, purple

Size 3 - navy, bordeaux

Size 4 - purple, black

Having small runs of less than 50 of each Plus Size sizing increases the cost per item.

We absolutely will not force the plus size manufacturer to absorb these extra costs because we do not want to put them at risk of closing.

⭐ Quality control issues

Whenever possible, these are returned and corrected to minimise waste. If it's not possible to correct something, they may be sold as B Grade items.

⭐Risk for brands and manufacturers

⭐ Summary

As you can see, the plus size market is really not big at all, and on top of that it's financially risky for lolita brands to get involved with.

However, this is a goal that is entirely dependent on overseas customer support.

Even though this is a hugely long explanation, I've still barely covered the basics. I hope it was still informative for people!

#Rufflechat #Lolita #Lolita fashion #egl community #egl fashion #Atelier Pierrot #plus sizing #plus size Lolita

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rou-en · 5 months

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lmfao the fuck are you on, a tesla is still very much a symbol of being rich as fuck. shut up and listen to actual poor people for a minute and maybe you'll gain some critical thinking skills. or maybe you'll just go back to being a bootlicker. who knows?

Oh wow another first - anon hate!

Also welcome, it’s very weird to be interacting with people on this hell site after so long, but hello!! To me this is all very hilarious to come about from just venting in tags about Watcher drama but I guess that’s this place for you eh?

I could just have not swiped and answered this one, and tbh I hesitated a bit on the first anon as well, but it does feel exhilarating to be speaking to the void and getting a voice back (any voice in fact!)

But first to this second anon (coz I’d guess from the tone that you’re not the first), I hope you’re doing alright in the real world - that as frustrated and angry as you might be about my take on Teslas (very much a shitty car), you are alright and safe,

Since I seem to have a captive audience (of at least two that I can tell of so far, how novel!), I guess let me soliloquy about thoughts on wealth and the complex nature sometimes of the whole “poor vs rich” dynamic, which is also a bit of why I even waded a little into responding to you amidst watcher drama,

Second anon, I recommend dl;dr (don’t like don’t read) -

I come from a generation where that’s what we did for things we didn’t like. For all I’ve said you’re a captive audience, you’re actually not (again, this is all very funny to me right now I can’t believe this is over ghoul boi drama still jfc) - one person’s opinion will always be just that, an opinion.

I think anon, we might be in different areas of the world, but at least where I live (please check prev tags on the post you were referring to, I’m also too internet-old not to hide in tags as much as I like) it’s become an increasingly common sight to see even soccer moms drive a Tesla, their bloody SUV model is the bane of my existence,

Does that mean everyone can afford them? No. Does it mean a middle-class family could afford them? If they wanted it enough, yes. Does it mean there still aren’t people suffering here from poverty in my part of the world? Sadly, no.

And therein lies an interesting problem (well at least to me as a former economics student) about signalling and truly knowing where in the whole class wars business you’re on, because it does make a difference if you ever have to figure out which rich to eat,

Is the 1% who get to fly on private chartered space flights and book out the whole of Disneyland for themselves (I’m looking at a shitty Amazon CEO there) the first to the guillotine? Oh yes.

But what about everyone else? Are we going to burn everyone who has multiple iPhones? God forbid anyone ever treats themselves to a seven-course degustation? Would not recommend, but I don’t think it guillotine-perfect, and I don’t think everyone that drives a Tesla where I am in the world can begin to count as that,

Those people live a daily life here, second anon, it’s so middle-class here it’s almost funny and why saying to me “Steven owns a Tesla” makes me shrug and go “would not recommend but you do you”,

I understand that can be different to you, because oh, turns out my own thoughts and circumstances can be very different to yours indeed.

Fun fact, I grew up first in a developing country, and had the privilege to move to a “first-world” country because my family was dedicated and sacrificed to make sure I could live the “better life” so to speak,

So I know there’s an inequality in the world when an exchange rate could mean the difference between something being a “rich” vs “normal” thing - I buy a Switch here for about 450 bucks (I saved and then got it on sale) as an achievable treat; for my sister who still lives in my home country, it’s almost two grand and definitely ridiculous to spend on for any normal family,

On one level, where is the fairness in that? But I live with it, and I have to choose some treats or if not what’s the point in life,

What does this all mean in the face of the original ghoul boys/watcher drama that’s occurring now? If anyone has read this for long enough is probably wondering at this point,

(I hope you’re both with me still my two anons, I’ll cherish this even if nothing else ever happens to me on this hell site)

I guess I wanted to try and say: life is complicated, and everyone makes complicated decisions, even your favourite comfort YouTubers,

It means I can only see the exacting vitriol at Steven for liking nice things but not Shane for also liking nice things and wonder whether people are barking up the wrong trees, very racist trees in fact,

It means that I keep thinking of shitposts about when the time comes, we’d likely just start offing our neighbours for being “rich” then anyone actually rich, because we seem to not understand the difference between nice things and things no nice person should have (holding also the complicated element of environment and geopolitics to account),

In the process of writing my first response to anon #1, I did have a moment where I wondered, “what if the Watcher boys did think about this? What if they did have some level of number crunching and still looked into their souls and decided that it wasn’t what they wanted? That they knew they could keep doing what they’re doing now and be financially stable, or risk it because of what they believe?”

I and you or anyone can wonder, can or cannot understand, but I sure as hell wish the Watcher team the best of luck, and like you anon, their days will be safe, content and filled with nice things, because why else would I want anything else for anyone,

That’s my one opinion at least, take that as you will anon on the bootlicking quotient for that - if being someone that would just like us all to take a chill pill is being one, then meh - you’re welcome to your opinion too,

But thanks to anyone that’s somehow come to my Tedtalk that started with my random thoughts on Watcher drama and ended with me finding people are still around (it’s not just all bots huzzah!)

#watcher #seriously many firsts for me today for this hellsite #more than 10 years I’ve been here and I now have proof of life #also I’m sorry I don’t know how to do the read more function send help #also I do know they say not to respond to anon but it’s not every day you know

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kdinjenzen · 2 years

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Since Metroid prime is being remastered, I'm remaining cautiously optimistic for a golden sun reboot. Preferably one that can integrate save data from golden sun to lost age without the need for a 6 page code that I inevitably mess up 17 times despite working off pictures I took of the code

First things first! The Metroid Prime Remaster is already out! You can play it now!

Now onto the meat of this... as much as I'd love that to be true, the numbers don't quite match to make that a justifiable business move on Nintendo's part.

Here's why!

Metroid as a series, despite being a lower selling first party title for Nintendo, still sells pretty well!

Nearly 17 Million units sold across the entire series as of March 31st 2022. Which is A LOT but also NOT A TON. It's an "okay" selling series for Nintendo.

Here's a rough breakdown of how those Metroid sales look btw:

But compared to Zelda and Mario? ... it looks like chump change:

That's over 125 MILLION units sold for the Zelda series and nearly 400 MILLION units sold for the Mario series as of Dec 31st 2022. Which is... WAAAAAAY more.

Part of that is because Mario and Zelda sold better with their original releases on the Famicom/NES which caused an explosion of releases, re-releases, and sequels to be more commercially viable for Nintendo to make VS making more Metroid games.

The reason Nintendo is remaking the Metroid Prime series (and I'm banking on Prime 2 and 3 remakes coming out too) is to reinvigorate the Metroid brand in fans minds and also bring these games to NEW folks to hype up the future release of Prime 4... which they already announced multiple times and they REALLY want sales to be good thus they are promoting the Prime series by releasing this Remaster of Prime 1... and possible 2 and 3.

NOW... I say all that to say THIS about Golden Sun:

COLLECTIVELY the Golden Sun series has only sold 3.5-ish MILLION UNITS WORLD WIDE...

Which is... oof, tbh.

They didn't sell well, they weren't advertised well, but they DID develop a cult following and Nintendo DID hint at a Golden Sun 4 at the end of Dark Dawn and... well Dark Dawn didn't even hit 1 million units sold so they probably scrapped that idea IMMEDIATELY upon seeing those sales numbers.

As a Golden Sun fan, that's heart breaking. I love the series so deeply and dearly and I am desperate for a solid conclusion to the franchise...

But thinking logically? It would make absolute no sense to re-make any of these titles NOR make a 4th game at all.

That said... if you HAVEN'T played Golden Sun, PLEASE DO! It's coming to the Switch's Virtual Console thingy soonish! It's an AMAZING RPG AND WELL WORTH YOUR TIME!

Maybe, possibly, if enough people play the original two games on the Switch Virtual Console then Nintendo will see some value in the Golden Sun brand again... and we can finally see the series get the ending it deserves.

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ajayblog12 · 5 months

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B.com vs BBA

Certainly! Let's delve deeper into the comparison between B.Com and BBA:

1. Core Subjects:

B.Com: The curriculum typically revolves around core subjects like accounting, economics, finance, and business law. Students gain a comprehensive understanding of financial principles, taxation, auditing, and commercial laws.

BBA: This program covers a wider spectrum of subjects including management principles, marketing, human resource management, organizational behavior, operations management, and business ethics. It offers a holistic view of various aspects of business administration.

2. Skill Development:

B.Com: Emphasizes on analytical and numerical skills required for roles such as financial analysts, accountants, auditors, and tax consultants. It enhances proficiency in areas like financial reporting, analysis, and auditing techniques.

BBA: Focuses on developing managerial and leadership skills necessary for supervisory and executive roles. Students learn strategic decision-making, communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and project management skills which are essential for managerial positions.

3. Career Trajectory:

BCom: Graduates often pursue careers in accounting firms, financial institutions, banking sector, taxation departments, and corporate finance departments. They may work as accountants, auditors, tax consultants, financial analysts, or investment bankers.

BBA: Opens up opportunities in various sectors including marketing, sales, human resources, operations, consulting, and entrepreneurship. Graduates can work as marketing managers, HR specialists, operations managers, business consultants, or start their own ventures.

4. Industry Focus:

B.Com: Primarily caters to industries related to finance, accounting, banking, insurance, and taxation. It prepares students for roles in financial management, auditing, taxation, and corporate finance.

BBA: Offers a broader perspective and is applicable across industries including retail, manufacturing, IT, healthcare, hospitality, and consulting. It equips students with versatile skills needed to navigate diverse business environments.

5. Further Education:

B.Com: Provides a strong foundation for pursuing advanced degrees such as Master of Commerce (MCom), Chartered Accountancy (CA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), or Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a specialization in finance or accounting.

BBA: Acts as a stepping stone for postgraduate studies like MBA or specialized master's programs in areas such as marketing, human resources, operations management, or international business.

In summary, while B.Com focuses more on finance and commerce-related disciplines, BBA offers a broader understanding of business administration and management principles. Your choice should align with your interests, career aspirations, and the specific skills you aim to develop.

#education #bba colleges #bba vs bcom #bba course #bcom course #ranveer singh #old bollywood #priyanka chopra #shah rukh khan #star wars

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lamarckianenterprises · 1 year

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My Completely Unofficial and Uncategorized Real Time Reactions and Thoughts about the Comprehensive Disco Elysium Investigation by People Make Games: (Thinking about this for most of the night led to a fight with someone I'm dating and I think that's very on brand with DE)

youtube

Watching the video

In their opening preamble they stated that they interviewed 16 employees both former and current who worked closely with him who claim that Kurvitz was just a cunt actually (A significant amount of people since the original team was around 30 and the current one is only a hundred or so) They spend a lot of time at the start talking about how this isn’t as black and white as it seems.

Complicated post release company share charts galore.

Apparently no one working on Disco Elysium had uhhh, worked on a game really before that, and this was all Kender's idea

There's a lot of accounting shenanigans for Ilmar Kompus and his business partner whose name I have already forgotten to just straight up hide their real income from the Estonian government solely to avoid paying any of the 11 million they collectively owe in fines paid out to investors of the Baku scam/scandal.

Said business partner's stake in Zaum UK was owned under a shell company named after a five team sailing boat he sails with an ex lover who owns said shell company

Also Ilmar Kompus obtained the majority share of ZAUM Studio (the Estonian parent company that does not own the IP, the IP is in ZAUM UK) by buying Margus Linnamae's shares directly either supposedly without telling the others or after telling the others

LMAO KENDER CLAIMED IN A LAWSUIT THAT HE FINANCED IT NOT ONLY BY TAKING OUT A LOAN UNDER THE NAME OF A BRITISH BASED ZAUM CHILD COMPANY, BUT BY BUYING THE IP RIGHTS FOR A GAME FROM ZAUM FOR 1 POUND AND SELLING IT BACK FOR 4.8 MILLION EUROS

>He dropped the lawsuit and went on to defend ZAUM and the share sale from Kurvitz and Rostov's lawsuit???

Why

The more I learn about the Disco Elysium case the more this sounds like a classic faustian bargain thing or Dickensian novel, the absolute worst people you have ever known got together to make a game no matter the consequences and no matter their initial lack of skills and connections

I'm currently watching the interviews but won't comment on them until I watch all of them

Ilmar at least seems capable of remaining calm and maintaining the same story even if his deflections and replies aren't always the most convincing

But the key takeaways is that he claims that the shareholder agreement in Newelysium, the company set up for the sequel's development and IP which mainly benefits Kurvits, and the others (20% vs his 5%) was essentially used as a carrot to dangle in front of them to agree to his use of company funds to buy out those shares for himself, and that he claims that them trying to single out Tomi Haavel's sus financial arrangements as an example of his duplicity is wrong because they had agreed to those terms and hashed it out with Tomi before he hopped on as a fellow shareholder in the UK branch that owns the IP

Also his justification for their firing was that by the time of the final cut literally none of them were working properly, with Kurvitz supposedly providing no new writing and the credited lead writer for the Final Cut mostly underperforming and another writer, Justin Keenan needing to do the majority of her work

Above and beyond what said other employees took as time away from work to resolve their own burnouts from the grueling development cycle of DE

He mostly defers on the allegations of toxicity, gender discrimination, etc because he's not in a position to legally say anything and wasn't personally there for it to begin with, but he does say that the alleged IP theft attempt was the straw that broke the camel's back. We're not cycling into the interviews with ZA/UM employees both past and present, with one agreeing to come forward on the record with their name on it to represent the viewpoint of the employee and not just the executive guy who'd benefit from Kurvitz eating shit

>The interview is with the Cuno writer

You had my interest before but 👀

>He's also an old friend of Kurvitz and an original member of both ZA/UM the cultural group and their weird little high school dropout anarchist commune gang thing

Huh, apparently Kaur's father was the prototype for Harrier, especially the throwing up thing, that was something that happened to his father

The writer also did Evart, Harrier's boss, the tribunal scene and the hardy boys among other things. He personally feels slighted by Robert because Robert claimed that he wrote half of the million words in DE and while he's not surprised that he lied about that (he's said it before to his face), he does personally think it's innaccurate especially with 3 other non Robert and him writers credited

He describes his relationiship and friendship with Robert the way an ex cult member would describe their former leader

Robert (Kurvitz) apparently had this magnetic charisma that made people look to him for leadership, which was a mistake because he had absolutely no leadership skills or a proper understanding of what being a leader meant

He said that when he first met Robert, he was a young man and Robert to him was almost like a God in terms of how cool he was and how inspiring he seemed. It wasn't until he married his then wife that the weirdness of their relationship was pointed out, and he fell out of that, and tried to form a more normal friendship over the course of development only to realize that he was beginning to fall back into that over time

He was generally short and inconsiderate with other people's feelings, communication wasn't his strong side

Generally stuff like the programmers trying to show him something they were working on and him saying no that's garbage I can't work while looking at this it's demoralizing me, and they come back with a finished copy and he just says its bullshit and they need to start over. When it comes to writing, during the first draft editing process he would often do things such as looking at about four days of work essentially, an entire hub in a dialogue tree, and go, "Nah this doesn't work, it's bullshit" and deleted it

He (Argo) personally learned to cope with it and taking criicism that way, but he's had convos with other writers before and understands that it is pretty toxic

>DE had a fucking nine month long crunch period before initial release

With an average of about 1 to 2 nights spent without rest per week

He reacts to Ilmar's accusation that the three hadn't done much work by going:

For about 3 to 4 months after release everyone was basically expected not to do any work.

He feels that Rostov was probably the one most burnt out by the experience

And the most work Robert did was a tiny, or at least unacceptable amount of work for drafting up concepts for the sequel among two years and doing a kickoff meeting for the political sequels, otherwise he did not contribute to the Final Cut or did much during those two years.

Helen had a very hands off approach to leading, to the point where he personally enjoyed just kinda having no one to answer to, but little actually got done under her direct leadership even if she didn't do no work at all

Also his description of them originally working in a formerly squatted office where water leaks into the server room and the electricity would turn off and on makes me wonder if the next DE project just needs to be a The Making of the Room style mockumentary

He feels that while Robert should still be allowed to work with the world of Elysium, he also feels like the man wasn't like, the sole creator of it, he was instrumental but so are a lot of people who are being labelled as 'demonic money men' who you know

ACTUALLY KNOW HOW TO FUCKING RUN A COMPANY AND ADVERTISE AND GET A GAME DEVELOPED AND PUBLISHED, among other things

He just kinda thinks that Robert is presenting himself as the sole creator of the world and the reason why it all worked to begin with when he was in truth just, the guy who worked on the original idea and fleshed it out through tabletop games and a novel

He does hold a more favorable view on Rostov though as does many employees, who seem to think of him as being like, caught up in a problem Robert started with his departure being a real shame

Helen has apparently been in a romantic relationship with Robert for years before ZA/UM was a thing so they're putting a pin on that and continuing with the other employee interviews they can now publish as people are willing to go on record

The people are Petteri Sulonen the 'lead technologist', Kaspar Tamsalu a lead artist and original Estonian employee group member and Justin Keenan, the current lead writer who is credited as being the one mostly behind the Final Cut's writing despite Helen's credit as a lead writer

(They fucking decided to post snippets from each in sequence instead of coherent snippets from one complete interview to the next why) Kaspar states that he is disappointed in Rostov personally as a friend of him from their teenage years, Petteri says that this was probably the most likely outcome as anything else would have required Robert to actively change how he relates to other people and their work, and Justin states that Robert always had an inner circle following him who seemed to enjoy special privileges from being close to him

And that it was dispiriting for everyone out of said circle because they could essentially get away with doing anything as much or as little as they liked while everyone else had to pick up the slack

Kaspar states that in 2021 Rostov asked him to take over as art lead while he stepped away from the studio for a month, which slowly turned into three that led to Robert suspiciously wanting to take a two month vacation with only people from his in group, which included Rostov

He says that they (Rostov and Robert) had essentially mentally checked out during the time the studio started to really formalize and define itself after DE's release, both in terms of policies such as healthcare and just, general working environment and culture

Justin wrote the moralist and communist quest and kinda states that by the time of Final Cut the already smaller team also had to deal with the three checking out, with him basically having to work on them on his own outside of a few conversations. He accuses Helen of doing no writing as far as he's aware of, and also just, not communicating absolutely anythign a leader should communicate or really doing much leading. He cites that they didn't know what the deadlines were on the Final Cut because she didn't tell them

So the four writers working on the Final Cut ended up kinda, working by themselves while checking up on each other by themselves

Robert apparently told Kaspar straight up that his idea was to spend seven years working on the next project by himself with three other people, two writers and Rostov as the only artist which uhhhh, obviously Kaspar didn't take well since he was in the middle of moving to the UK to follow after the game's new development center after quitting his previous job to do so??? Rostov tried to wave it away by saying that Robert was just being him and having weird wording but then the vacation was announced and he kinda wondered why Robert specifically needed these people to be rested up to work on the sequel

Robert tasked Justin to assign test work to two junior writers who had been working on the Final Cut to develop what could be major quests in the sequel to see if they were worth taking on in the core team. He felt that was unfair but did it anyway, workshopped it between them and Argo, and they did really great work apparently but a year into Robert's sabbatical he said he was taking a two month holiday with his inner circle, and told Justin that he wouldn't have the time to give them his review of their work, and told him to give them the bad news that they weren't going to be on the core team even though their work was great to them

Assured him he had reviewed their work, left on vacation, and a few months later he apparently revealed in a one to one convo with one of said writers that he hadn't actually read or reviewed said work at all

Kaspar notes that said inner circle kinda, made decisions that affected other people in the company mostly based on how they felt at the time without really considering how it would affect other people along with just, kinda disappearing from time to time. And the biggest red flag was when Rostov and Robert sat down with him and Justin at fall 2021 to talk about how while they were still in talks with everyone else and that while it is still going well, they were thinking of taking him and Justin and essentially forming their own studio when they were ready which uhhh, Kaspar had just upgraded from couch surfing to signing a one year no break clause tenancy in an apartment in the UK and was going to be a father and all that and just couldn't like, hop off to follow them along like he had no other responsibilities.

Apparently literally three days before Kaspar's one way flight to the UK, Robert called them for another meeting where he triumphantly declared that he was going to approach Ilmar with a deal that Kaspar begged him not to do because it would get him fired. Justin corroborates by saying that Robert said that this project was his masterpiece and that he couldn't report to anyone on it, he essentially wanted to be the sole creative director for 'his' project, and that he had an idea he thinks could work for convincing the executive producers to let him back on.

He wanted to shelve the sequel, and ask Kaspar and Justin to essentially state that they couldn't do it now and wanted to work on some smaller project instead, and that Robert would work under their lead throughout this project solely to show to the executive producers that he was trustworthy, that for the sequel he could be trusted with regaining his rightful seat as the sole creative director.

Justin then pointed out that if this project went well, which he also didn't want to do because he came here to work on the sequel to begin with, why wouldn't they just go, "Oh hey these two did a great job as the creative leads, why don't we just get them to lead the sequel?" instead of just assigning it to Robert, and Robert literally just went, "Because you'll tell them to."

Petteri essentially vague posts about how Robert suggested he do something for them that would have immediately gotten him fired as a start. Kompus had rather bluntly stated that Petteri was asked to share the source code for DE straight up with him on November the 2nd which Petteri himself corroborates as being true, although he does note that he only told the executives about this conversation a few months after Robert's dismissal, and that this couldn’t have been the reason why he (Robert) was fired.

I really appreciate PMG's initial preface that while it is tempting to approach this from a purely black and white, heroes and villains view, the real situation just like pretty much everything about real life is much more complex than that. Because it does seem like while people accuse them of both sidings a lot, it's just... yeah sometimes it's just like that.

Because an hour and a half in this seems to be about a group of committed bank frauding capitalists teaming up with completely no name anarchist writers, painters and tabletop RPG players of varying national notoriety to make a video game despite literally no one having experience in that field. And the fucking anarchists were the most unbearable people to work with somehow.

Ilmar is almost definitely lying about a lot of things but apparently Tomi was just... a good executive producer???? Everyone has only had nice things to say about him so far???? The literal, I was involved in a 11 million euro investment scandal ten years ago guy just did a good job???

He's skeezy as all hell and all of his earnings goes through at least one shell company to avoid paying estonian debts but like, He was one of the people who helped turn a literal group of no name randos with no previous credit other than a book that sold like, a thousand copies nationally and the worst possible office setup known to man into an award winning game development studio

Kaspar and Petteri closes I think to say that while they can understand why an outsider who wasn't in the office and working with them would buy into the good and evil narrative, it is also still bullshit and apparently people online send Kaspar death threats.

LMAO PMG LITERALLY JUST PULLED THE VIEWER ASIDE TO GO, "HEY IF YOU'RE A FAN OF DE THEN YOU'RE PROBABLY A LITTLE COMMUNIST SO MAYBE CONSIDER NOT SENDING THESE EMPLOYEES WHO JUST SPOKE UP ABOUT THIS DEATH THREATS"

Anyway I think it's kind of interesting that Ilmar was completely confident with having the entirety of his video uploaded to youtube while the trio specifically asked that it not be shared because they may say something that their lawyers would find inadvisable

Robert states that the original production essentially suffered through a hellish production cycle where everyone was sorta expected to put up and try their best to fulfill completely unrealistic production times repeatedly until they finally got it done, with Helen corroborating to say that he and Rostov had essentially done crazy shit like work on this thing from waking up at 4 AM to 11 PM regularly.

Robert states that the original contract for the company holding his IP was essentially until three games or a time limit was passed

I need to stop to say that I can feel that there was a very strong and intentional choice by PMG to present Robert, Rostov, and Helen's take after building up as strong of a case against them as possible, they even went so far as to like, show the thumbnail and title of a youtube essay strongly endorsing their case during the preamble as an example of one of the many supporting the overall good vs evil narrative of an IP being stolen away from its creator.

Somehow despite him being literally what most of us would think of as an underdog and being in the right in this situation, everything he says seems inherently suspect somehow, like I’ve been trained to question everything he says. I keep having to remind myself not to switch to using ‘alleges’ instead of states for example.

It's in the little things, but mostly in the way the non Rostov and Robert corroborators have had their credentials and stakes in defending him already prequestioned for me. Helen is one of the main three and also a former lover of Robert, the only other person in this segment who isn't one of the three is literally described as being a producer and Rostov's wife.

Rostov and Yuan Zhang-Taal (who is said former producer at ZA/UM and Rostov’s wife) paint a picture of him essentially, flaming out by the end of it but gracefully like he was finally happy to just kinda, accomplish it, finish their great work, and the pandemic kinda helped with that because now he could focus on resting without even being expected to leave the house to go the office for example, but the general announcement of the Final Cut, led to a growing sense of stress and nervousness to him as more and more was expected of him again (I can get that a little actually, the fear of like, being expected to go back to that extreme level of crunch can stay with you a while). Yuan states that while he did less work then when compared to the terrifying crunch that was DE’s production cycle, that crunch wasn’t something you could normalize to begin with without destroying yourself.

Robert states that the permanent transfer of the IP was presented to him by Kender as a way to deal with a problematic major shareholder who was the cause behind the deadlines and financing unlike Ilmar who was presented as having fought for them every step of the way, he also states that throughout the process he hadn’t talked to any lawyer, he had no legal representation or consultation of any kind. And thought that since he was being offered authoritarian protections that would supposedly give him creative control over his right’s work, it seemed like something he should do.

Rostov continues to say that yes he did basically just rest for about two whole years he did do that.

Helen states that she was essentially just, handed the position of lead writer along with overseeing the Voice over work for every single goddamn line in the entire fucking game, which she kinda, just had to figure out. She states that the Final Cut’s release date was unknown to her until around mid August, when it was essentially told to her in a general meeting with everyone by Kaur that writing would cease completely in two weeks, and that the game would be released in March next year.

According to Helen during a slack convo Kender admitted that he had essentially messed up as a producer and forgor to tell her about the release date, but that he was essentially fine with her just giving him a new date for when everything would probably be fine and ready to hand over to the VO department.

Yuan was apparently brought on later in DE Final Cut’s development, and found it strange that Kaur and Tomi accused Helen of just straight up lying about when the deadline was and being a lazy worker when she knows and works with Helen and knows that she’s doing her best.

Helen tried calling Kaur and getting them to all just sit down and hash it out but Kaur just went oh no it’s fine just keep working. Tomi just straight up called her and started screaming at her for being terrible at her job and unsuited to leadership though while asking her to step down, it came off as being fired at the time, and apparently another writer in the same room could hear her being screamed at through her headphones.

With all of the prequestioning and literally everyone else who works there who's interview is shown outside of the big three shittalking them Helen comes off at best as like, being Peter principled. She did such a good job as a writer that she got promoted to a lead writer, a mostly managerial role who'll also help coordinate how lines are to be delivered by the VOs and then was just sort of dogshit at it.

She responds to the allegations by Kompus and the two other writers about the complete lack of presence as a leader and her lack of work as a writer with no new words supposedly being written by instead going on a tangent about how ZA/UM shuffled her around companies every 2 years to avoid crediting her properly and giving her proper benefits that a worker would have in the UK after being a contracted worker for two years in the same company.

She literally just goes, "I respect these writers but anyway let me talk about how Za/Um screwed me over and are now finally acknowledging that yes I did work as a lead writer"

Robert tries to present himself and Rostov as being victims of a push from the top to demote them from the lead in future creative projects, and trying to distract them by playing them off of each other to get them to fight, but PGM immediately calls bullshit on that in the video when compared to what other employees have said and cuts to a clip of ARgo saying that no in fact Rostov was pushed to demote himself by Robert himself who essentially gaslit the man by preying on his insecurities by trying to convince him that he was unfit to lead. Going on until Rostov approached the producers and they came up with a scheme where every creative lead would have an administrative counterpart, Kaspar with Rostov and Justin with Robert.

The Administrative leads would not only be creative partners but also be the ones to talk to the producers and manage the day to day work of the writing and art teams apparently, basically one person had final say sort of about the creative direction, and the other basically did all of the actual lead work of actually taking care of the team (which Robert is continuously portrayed as being bad at).

Robert seemed fine with this at first since he could essentially focus on writing, but after a month or so he realized that he basically was just a writer and only the defacto head, and he would keep complaining about it during the zoom meetings the writers would hold, while also apparently trying to get Rostov to be dissatisfied with it too despite this whole thing being his idea???

He apparently managed to convince Rostov to be dissatisfied with this and they approached the producers to tell them that they were ready to lead once more, which uhhh, none of the other writers (except possibly for Helen) really wanted on Robert’s case.

Roberts refutes Ilmar’s claim that he had talked to them beforehand about the necessity of him using company funds to buy out the major stockholder share for himself, and Helen states that she was the one who found out about the shift. Roberts asserts that he had thought Tomi’s shell company was actually Ilmar’s this whole time, and had asked him why he had effectively a 40% share in the IP company, and what they got out of all this. And he mentions a heated email exchange/thread that interestingly enough, Ilmar himself provided to PMG.

It mainly concerns Roberts and Rostov wanting to be more involved in the company both as shareholders and employees, and setting up emails about the future of the company, asking about company docs, figuring out what their roles would be in Disco Elysium 2. But around November Roberts became the only one messaging in the thread, apparently asking for basic documents that he should already have had access to? And Ilmar had just checked out of the exchange, building up to a meeting at about 9th that ended with the trio getting fired a week or so afterwards.

Roberts had gone into shock after realizing what had happened and Helen and he had spent an entire day basically just dealing with UK mental health services to deal with it. He reiterates Kaur Kender’s claims, and throws shade on the IP Ilmar had supposedly shuffled around in the company. Also he states that despite being shareholders in Newelysium, both he and Rostov were completely unaware of its incorporation which is just wild to me, he states that Rostov had just signed onto it as director but don’t you need to like, actually get the permission of shareholders of the company you are making before giving them shares in the UK?

Robert also states that he was unaware of Anu Reiman (Tomi’s wife/partner) receiving funds from ZA/UM. And that they were approached by Ilmar with a substantial offer monetarily to resolve the case, get bought out from ZA/UM, and essentially become the Notch of DE.

They dispute that toxicity was the cause for their firing, as they state that the timelines and reasons for it have shifted over time with each new case, and that the original reason given was that they were attempting to steal the IP and sell it to other companies, which they dispute. They interestingly enough chose a set of big names in game development as the ones they were accused of approaching although according to PMG none of those companies or John Sawyer was the one any employee has mentioned, with the most common one being the BG3 developers Larian. Chris Bratt (The PMG guy covering this) notes that he’s never quite understood how this would have worked anyway or whether any of this was based in truth, and honestly same, were they just going to make Tesco Elysian or something???

Argo’s statements are mentioned to Robert, and he initially claims that he asks himself everyday if he is a good leader or if he’s doing a good enough job, but that a lot of these allegations come from people who took money from him illegally (Ilmar), but he does eventually admit that yes a lot of people other than him may have been hurt as well, especially during the arduous production process.

Chris Bratt states that after he posed these questions, the vibes in the room felt off and he could later on tell that Robert was pretty clearly upset so he like, softballed the questions from then on. Which yes was obviously a mistake but I can sorta understand why, I guess maintaining goodish relations with them did allow him to get followup interviews with Rostov and followup emails after the other employees had come forward as willing to go on the record though.

He really softballs the year long sabbatical question goddamn. But yeah Roberts basically says that he was extremely drained from the 12 hour days he had taken up until that point and really needed the break and it was so sad that Rostov didn’t get someone who could take his place like Roberts did and Kaur Kender kept shitting on him and he and Tomi were also always dissatisfied with Helen despite the incredible job she was doing. He defends it as a necessary way to recover from his post development burnout, and that he in fact had put in normal amounts of work throughout that period.

Rostov also points out that said two months of vacation, which Argo also joined, was necessary to get into the right mindset to prepare concepts for the next game. Roberts also pointed out that it wasn’t a privilege, just the exact amount of days allowed by British Law as mandatory vacation time each year taken out in one sitting.

Yeah I think the employee interviews were a great idea, especially presented in the order they were. Rostov, Robert, and Helen are doing their best to like, dispel the accusations, state that they aren’t really an issue or anywhere near as bad as they seem, and that the image of Robert presented is really just a caricature of who he is to advance a message or viewpoint and like, I don’t know man, I’m pretty sure you three have been doing that with Ilmar, Kender, and Tomi as well, potentially deserved or not it feels like a weak appeal to me. And a lot of it comes off as a classic like, “I’m sorry that you felt that way” apology outside of the complete lack of like, need to defend himself Robert has noted.

At least he does state that people shouldn’t harass ZA/UM employees though, which is nice but idk it’s buried 2 hours and 14 minutes into a video that’s mostly been about questioning and prodding at his statements so far I don’t know if this will really stop anyone who believes him enough to send death threats at a complete stranger.

While Helen, Robert, and Rostov has vehemently denied that their behavior has been called into question until after their dismissal, Ilmar Kompus has provided a slack message from a few months before their dismissal that if true would prove otherwise. It's apparently five months before his firing and from Tomi, referring to Robert’s behavior in a meeting he wasn’t invited to but jumped into anyway when he took the headset from Helene.

Interesting to note that it’s actually a screenshot they showed us near the very start of the video, the one that very politely tells Kurvits that he is being an ass but that if he is willing to change they are still willing to work with him. I didn’t know that it was sent by Tomi at the time so honestly I still maintain that as shady and possibly criminal as he is, the man seems to just… be doing his best as an executive producer, and he seems to be doing ok, which is hilarious to me personally.

Kurvits’s reaction to the allegations made in the interview to the four employees including someone who's known him since his teenage years that he was:

Consistently inconsiderate of other people's feelings in a way that could yes create a toxic work environment

Tried to convince one of them to steal DE's source code for him

Tried to convince two of them to start a whole other side project just to make him look good to allow him to be the sole lead of DE 2

Gaslit the art lead into wanting to step down after DE's release

Had an inner circle that he regularly favored who could essentially do anything they want and coudl slack off and expect other workers to make up for it

Seemed convinced that he was the most victimized and tired and beaten down by the crunch and that after all of this collaborative work that Elysium was entirely his baby.

Etc.

Was quite literally just virtue signaling, by, and I’m paraphrasing here, going, "Loe and behold the crooked capitalists and conmen are trying to drive an artificial wedge between us poor and downtrodden workers, all of this has consumed our lives and damaged us irreparably, I would relinquish my shares for free but it is my only recourse for justice and as a writer I need to believe in something and I happen to believe in communism etc"

But also I do need to note, he added, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Art isn't about ending decades long friendships with someone because you realize that they were unbearable to work with and they are no longer an idol to worship over what initially started as petty disagreements and uncomfortable behavior.” and uh, no that’s exactly what art is about, that’s literally how most bands end, shush.

Massive props to Chris Bratt of PMG for immediately noting how outrageous he personally finds the email to be. I don’t think we watch 2 and a half hour long video essays for complete objectivity anyway (if that even exists to be blunt) and yeah it is pretty scummy that he’s trying to deflect entirely

This all feels like one of those problems that could have been resolved if there was a reasonable adult to try and get them to sit down and hash it out among each other to clear up what are mostly just, basic communication and treatable behavioral issues. Unfortunately everyone in the room was either doing bank fraud or needed therapy at best.

I guess the main takeaway from this is just. Two things can be true at the same time, both siding is bad when it's like, someone from a country saying that since another country does unrelated bad things, everyone from that country should shut up about the bad things their country is doing or has done. But this isn't whataboutism, it's literally just, "Hey actually maybe he is a cunt as well, Maybe the employees are speaking against him not because they feel the need to defend Ilmar to keep their paycheck but because Roberts was in fact just not a good team lead at best and aggravating and unbearable at worst"

But what I really hate is that Disco Elysium and its devs are communist adjacent enough that they have easy virtues to signal to in this case. I’m not saying that Ilmar’s hands are clean, but it’s not a good look when you pander to worker’s rights and collective action every single time someone mentions personal criticism of you and your work.

Also someone with actual money pay PMG please I'm too brokeass to do it myself. I think they did a really good job on this one.

#journaling #disco elysium #people make games #za/um #studio za/um #communication #Youtube

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