Very well said Mav. From personal experience, operating expenses will eat your bottom line like a dog eating fresh steaks.
I took a summer job operating a seasonal enterprise this summer, basically directing and overseeing everything that is going on. The owner put down a sizable chunk of cash to get everything in place. It has generated close to the amount that the owner has laid out....however, the layout money was just that, starting money, that does not count my salary (although he has factored that in), and the salary of the 3/4 other workers that are with me. When I print out the cash register receipts every night and I look at the total revenue brought in since May, then subtract what is left of that after all of the workers take our cut, it does not look good for the investor this year.
Nobody seems to understand that TST has infrastructure costs, they are run out of a downtown office in Chicago (correct me if I am wrong), thats not cheap.
Factor in the losses when people blow up. The directional punters should not be so critical of the prices, just play the game and use the resource to your advantage. Its saving everyone thousands in losses for your $200 fee every month