"Ego, greed and poor management can only result in one thing!"
It appears those businesses may not have acknowledged their situations soon enough and were not nimble enough to adjust to changes in their markets before costs got out of control. However, I would not assume ego and greed. Engineers and artists are often poor business people and the higher pricing may have come out of desperation to keep the ship afloat. Businesses that do not practice effective strategic planning, including activities like SWOT analyses, situational awareness, and risk management, can more easily find themselves in deep water as their clients and market demands change.