I wouldnt say Gary Stern is anyones hero, but being a business owner myself, I have to respect the fact that Stern has produced, survived and stayed profitable. Results count, money in the bank counts and he has certainly done that.
Selling anything considered a non essential product, espescially a luxury item like a pinball machine is a huge accomplishment today.
Even selling a product to operators who place pinball machines onsite is going to be extremely difficult.
Coming up with that "hit game" time after time would be a huge task. Having to invent something "new" every pinball game is also near impossible. People have to be realistic. These designers have to be like magicians these days. Small budgets, small design windows, and a ever impatient customer base who expects perfection and brilliance is a hard ship to sail.
The pinball machine production business is very much like a car manufacturing company, but Stern has one percent of the start up capital, if that, and a end sale price of say $5,000, yet Stern have to do the same work that companies like Ford/General Motors have to do to produce a car, a new model, or 3 or 4 new models each year. Not a easy task.
Anyone seen a profitable USA car maker in the last 12 years. No. Stern have done better than billionaire car companies when u think about it !
Stern makes profit where none of the USA car makers could. That shows Gary Stern is a smart operator to me anyway.
Not everyone will like Stern or hold them in high esteem, but at least we have new pinball titles to look forward to.
Also, JJP has made Gary Stern look alot smarter. JJP has plenty of money, and it hasnt got him over the line yet with one game, and he had pre-orders which Stern doesnt do, that shows its a very very hard business after all. Its taken JJP almost 2 years to make one game, and its not finished.
Yes he was a new start up, but its irrelevant, it takes years to get these processes right.
Even extremely profitable companies worldwide have gone broke this last 5 years or so, but again Stern have stayed open in a luxury market.
Not a easy task. Looking forward, things look positive for Stern fans.
