All-Star Case Studies 2019 Final

MiniGame™ Spotlight

SRC of Lexington continues to run multiple MiniGames throughout the
company. One example was called “The Early Bird Catches the Worm”, which
helped decrease cleaning and bolt hole repairs on the cylinder head assembly
line from 40% to 3%. Another game, called “The Tower of Inspection” helped
reduce inspection failures, where the pass rate went from 78% to 96%. Other
MiniGames targeted areas like efficiency improvements, labeling tools, and
creating a consistent shipping rhythm.

“The premise of GGOB is to teach everyone that they are all owners and that everyday decisions made by each
of us have an impact on the results or bottom line. Every action, top level management to individual employee,
influences the ability to create wealth, provide job security, and contribute to the company’s overall wellbeing.
By practicing GGOB employees learn the company’s financials and philosophies. With these tools’ employees
can identify a “Critical Number” or area needing improvement and establish targets to overcome the identified
shortfalls. I believe that GGOB has impacted SRC of Lexington by helping provide the above understanding of
how the numbers function, expose weaknesses (help identify our Critical Number), and present us with the tools
to be able to implement the necessary processes, procedures, or contingencies to try and help us successfully

hit our targets.” ~ Michelle Fugate, Materials Department

What’s Next?

Shear says that the while the company has been successful since it became
part of SRC, things began to turn downward back in 2015; they found
themselves in a bit of a rut when it came to playing The Game. They hadn’t
earned a bonus in a while and support for The Game was waning. That’s when
they reinvested in strong, employee-run committees, including the Ownership
Culture Committee, which ramped up Great Game education, worked with
departments on running better and more impactful MiniGames, and revamped
their huddles. Meanwhile, other employee committees tackled challenges in
areas like safety or giving back to the local community. “The common theme
with these efforts was giving employees more of a voice in making decisions
and helping to run the company,” says Shear, which is something he wants to
continue improving on into the coming year as well as the company moves
into a new larger facility that it now owns.

“GGOB has taught me so much regarding how money can be affected in your everyday life and how to be
more open and aware of problems that come up and how to react and not over react to a situation. It has made
me better prepared financially for problems that can occur in your everyday life. I will plan for the future and
prepare to overcome obstacles because I now look for the future obstacles. I have learned that your future is the

choices you prepare for not just the obstacles that stand in your way.” ~ Mike Miller, Cylinder Heads

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

SuperSuds Management

Location: Fredricksburg, VA
2018 Revenues: $7.3 million
Employees: 25
The Critical Number™: Net Profit % / Cash

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Owner Robert Schwartz, who has a background on Wall Street, saw The business owns and operates 26 different
an opportunity back in 1996 to consolidate the widely fragmented laundromats, all of which feature highly efficient
laundromat industry. But as he acquired more locations across a large-load and high-speed washers and dryers,
greater geographic area, he realized he couldn’t run the entire business across four states on the east coast.
on his own. He also realized that many of the stores felt isolated and
out of touch. As a result, Schwartz wanted to find a system that would “The GGOB Huddles have changed
not only tie his business together, but also give a greater sense of my work life and taught me how to
leadership and ownership to the associates running each location. manage my own money differently. I
have learned different things about
Solution how the company runs and how to
save the company money. It’s also
While he read The Great Game of Business years ago, it wasn’t until he pretty good when the company does
went to Springfield to see Great Game™ in action did he fully appreciate well, we are given a bonus!”
how it could be the answer he was looking for. It was after a visit to ~ Pam Brown, Store Manager
his neighbor Liz Wilder of Wilder Designs, a GGOB Hall of Famer, that
Schwartz made the move to hire a coach, Wayne Whitesell, to start
playing the Game companywide in 2017.

Results

The SuperSuds team has been playing Great Game for almost
two years, and financial metrics are up across the board. Team
engagements have never been higher, which has made a huge positive
impact on customer service at the store level. Schwartz says that
revenue growth for similar businesses in the industry averages less
than 3% a year. In 2018, sales were up 6% at SuperSuds—and 2019
is already off to a bang with sales up more than 15%. “I attribute this
remarkable growth to our engaged team and a mind shift towards
a sense of ownership with ‘A Stake in the Outcome®,’” he says. “The
effect of The Game has been unbelievable. For the first time, our store
managers have realized that their impact on the customer experience
has translated to higher store sales which means more bonus pay—a
true line of sight impact has begun.”

“GGOB meetings have taught me more about customer service
and how the business is run. Group meetings have also taught
me to be more patient at work, home, and in my everyday life.
Punctuality and how important my contribution is to the
company are what I have learned as well.”
~ Ruthie Rodriguez, Store Manager

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

An example of a successful MinGame ran at SuperSuds involved a goal to
get store operators to engage more with customers by encouraging them
to take selfie photos with customers, which would then be posted to the
company’s Facebook page. Every store that hit their targets were given
the chance to spin a prize wheel. One store won the grand prize, snapping
some 130 selfies over three months, which earned every employee in the
store $100.

“The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) has helped me to understand more
about my work, save more money for the store and inspire me to try to reach my

goals with SuperSuds.” ~ Erika Jiminez, Store Manager

What’s Next?

Up next for Schwartz in the coming year is to find a path to engaging
his team in the strategic goal setting that’s part of the High-Involvement
Planning™ (HIP) process to see where they think the company can go in
the future. He admits that a few years ago, he figured he would eventually
sell the business as part of his exit strategy. Now, because operating the
business with the help of Great Game has become much more freeing,
fun, and engaging, he’s excited to see how the business will grow in the
years ahead. “I really enjoy operating the business now,” he says. “My
personal journey with GGOB has led me from frustration and exhaustion
to one of excitement, growth, and pride for our company and the culture
that is being created. The future is much bigger for this business than I
thought it was five years ago. Thank you GGOB!”

“Being introduced to The Great Game of Business when I began my employment with
SuperSuds Management has allowed me to more deeply understand the workings of how our

company succeeds. I do not just plug numbers in and out of accounting software. I see the
results of the employees’ hard work with making smarter decisions when ordering supplies. I

see teamwork to take care of the company’s equipment. And the sales grow with better
customer service. It’s also been a great practice in my home life to better manage my own

decisions that affect my finances.” ~ Carol Endreson Office and Accounting Manager

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Venturity Financial Partners,
INC

Location: Addison, TX
2018 Revenues: $5.4 million
Employees: 40
The Critical Number™: Gross Margin

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Find a way to get the entire company aligned around increasing gross Founded in 2001, Venturity provides back-office
margin and becoming more profitable, something they had struggled Controller and transaction processing services
with moving the needle on for years. as well as financial consulting to privately-held
companies, with the goal of providing them
Solution with peace of mind knowing that their financial
information is accurately represented and tells
Embrace the GGOB with the help of their coach, Wayne Whitesell, the story of their business.
by truly giving team members A Stake in the Outcome® based on
company-wide goals they all helped set. The Venturity team began “Being a part of GGOB and especially
implementing the Great Game in March 2017 playing the Great Game HIP this past year, has really inspired
as a full company in June 2017. me to see that the possibilities are
limitless when it comes to the
Results company’s growth as well as my own
personal growth. For example, if you
The financial impact on Venturity from playing GGOB has been asked me two years ago if I would
substantial. After years of trying to improve gross margin percentage even consider being a GGOB Coach
and barely moving it 1%, gross margin percentage improved 7% points I would think that it’s something that
from 2016 to 2017—7% points higher than it has ever been. The I wasn’t qualified to do but today my
company also crossed the $5 million revenue mark for the first time and thoughts are why not!”
doubled their net income from the previous year—marks that helped – Shelly Strother, Implementation
the company earn the Rookie-of-the-Year All-Star award from the GGOB Director
in 2018. These results have continued into 2019, with a further 2%
increase in Gross Margin in the first quarter, and year-to-date operating
income at 10% of revenue.
After playing The Game now for almost two years and experiencing
both success as well as challenges, the Venturity team remains
steadfast in their commitment to GGOB for two main reasons,
says founder and CEO Chris McKee. “Our teams work much more
collaboratively now, sharing ideas and resources with the same
common goal in mind,” he says. “And people believe in what they help
create. Having our entire team, led by the Venturity Experience Team
(VET), play a role in where we are headed as an organization has been a
game changer. We now have over 40 of us that understand the drivers
of our business bringing fresh ideas to the table to drive continued
growth and profitability. The whole team is now running the company
instead of me and the partners.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

“GGOB has improved Venturity greatly. After GGOB was implemented, it seemed everyone was excited yet
uncomfortable. Excited, because of open-book management and how everyone would be involved, but it was
uncharted territory, and everyone really needed to take a step and trust that everything was going to be ok. It
took a few months, but I have seen many improvements. Venturity has become more open and communication
has gotten a lot better, especially with our weekly reporting team meetings. Through our meetings we were able
to see what really matters and it has allowed us to determine that our mental health, our future, and our clients
are a priority in our lives. We take it one step at a time, but we are definitely taking Venturity to where we want it
to be.” – Jovana Cruz, Staff Accountant

MiniGame™ Spotlight

One prominent MiniGame the team played in 2018 was called, “The House That Venturity
Built”. The team had been watching their gross margin and capacity deteriorate for several
months—while their cost of goods sold and staff headcount continued to increase. This
didn’t make sense. What was going on? After doing analysis and research, the team
determined that they needed to build better “houses” or teams. “We were working, but
not efficiently, and the right people were not working on the right tasks,” says McKee.
The Business Development Team was closing more deals and bringing in new clients
and revenue but, with the way the company was operating, they would have to hire even
more people to service these new clients, further deteriorating gross margin—which was
something no one wanted. “We had to leverage work properly and create efficiencies in
order to increase capacity, improve the emotional wellness of our team members, and
improve the financial wellness of Venturity,” says McKee.

“Since beginning The Great Game of Business® (GGOB), I’ve experienced and I’ve watched
our Venturity staff grow, not only in detailed financial knowledge of our company, but each within
themselves. Great Game™ has opened the door to every member, whereby we feel safe, asking

questions, voicing opinions. I’ve never before seen anything that dynamic in my career.”
– Molly Matthews, Office Manager

What’s Next?

The team’s focus for 2019 is committing to getting the entire organization engaged in
its High-Involvement Planning™ (HIP) process. “We’ve never had a five-year plan,” says
Michelle Gardner, one of the partners in the firm. “Our goal is to now use the HIP process
to create that by the end of the year. It’s a way for us to get out of our comfort zone and to
begin to look forward and not just backward.”

“I feel that GGOB has helped bring out the best from every ‘owner’ in the company. Through various MiniGames and
initiatives, each owner was able to contribute both accounting and non-accounting talents, as well as be empowered to share

ideas that propel the whole organization. Through ‘The Hand That Feeds Us’ MiniGame, every accountant in the house was
able to utilize their marketing skills to help out the Business Development Team. It is as if the company has just quadrupled

its marketing department in a matter of a couple days.” – Linh Truong, Assistant Controller

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Victory Mission + Ministry

Location: Springfield, MO
2018 Revenues: $2.4 million
Employees: 35
The Critical Number™: Net Income / Revenue

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Change the culture by empowering the staff and teaching them to and Victory Mission + Ministry provides outreach
manage the finances better. Many of the staff had no idea how the and restoration to those in need. Persons can
organization is funded. receive a day’s worth of food at the food pantry,
a clothing voucher for necessary items, and
Solution short- or long-term shelter. When they come
for food, clothing, and shelter; Victory wants to
Inspired by other non-profit success stories in Springfield such as the work develop relationships to encourage life change
done by Cindy Stein in the government offices of Greene County, as well and restoration. Victory believes everyone
as the what Katie Davis had done at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks, has a name and a story and great potential.
Jason Hynson, the executive director of the Victory Mission turned to The ministry wants those in the restoration
The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) to help stabilize the organization’s programming to live in a supportive community
finances. with high quality employment. At Victory
Mission, “Every life has Purpose!”
Results
“GGOB is a powerful weekly huddle
Victory Mission continues to hit its stride. Thanks to playing Great Game™, for doing battle in the ministry.”
Victory’s new budgeting process—which used to be run top down—now ~ Brian Barkhoff, Recovery
enables the entire staff to see and plan accordingly. Expenses are seen Chaplain / Case Manager
by each member of the team. The continued cost savings and growth
allowed Victory to pay off their current warehouse commercial loan of
over $356,000.

Victory could then focus more on impacting individuals becoming
“productive citizens” and not worry about a vendor cutting off a line of
credit. The team also understands how its social enterprises must make
money or they need to be cut. “Donor dollars will not supplement what
was once a ‘good idea,’” says Hynson. For example, Victory closed its Thrift
Store operation in 2018—and the staff knew why. At one point, a staff
member raised the question after the huddle: “I don’t understand why
we are operating the Thrift Store if it cannot support itself.” “Fixing the
finances is building trust with the community of vendors, Victory staff, and
allowing the ‘business’ to work,” says Hynson. “It’s about understanding
how each smaller income and expenses fits in the whole picture. We also
came together as a team: one that will win or lose together. GGOB is
transforming the culture to one of openness and community.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

Victory has admittedly struggled to implement successful MiniGames,
especially from the bottom up. Getting better at finding opportunities to
kick off games to tackle challenges and improve habits is a goal for the
staff going into 2019.

“The GGOB allows us to connect all the pieces of who’s doing what. Which in turns allows
us to contribute to the process. And the incentive program will and does give extra weight
to make the organization run more efficiently.” ~Rita Chambers, HR Director and Executive

Assistant

What’s Next?

Victory continues to evaluate programs and operations, such as closing
the Thrift Store, which has opened up new opportunities and new staff
to see new income streams. Victory’s progress has continued, helped in
part by a large estate gift, which has helped augment their much-needed
cash reserves. Moving forward into 2019, Hynson sees opportunities to
continue the team’s financial literacy education, especially for new staff
members who have joined the team, in combination with a new incentive
program they have rolled out to reward the team if they surpass their goals.
“We value everyone in this organization,” says Hynson, “we recognize that
every team member has so much value to bring, especially in a transparent
culture that the Great Game helps create.” New opportunities, like “For
Victory, a coffee company”, continue to show Victory Mission will seek to
innovate with social enterprises to enhance workforce development and
impact to the community.

“As an employee of Victory Mission for almost two years now, it amazes me how we are able
to offer our employees a new incentive program and Simple IRA Matching fund. I have not
worked at a job in seven years that offered a retirement program so this is my first one in that
amount of time. For me to be able to have a retirement account and know my employer is
matching the amount of funds that I put into it is a very rewarding experience. We couldn’t

have done that without GGOB!” ~ Janelle Reed, Community Engagement Manager

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

Vital Farms

Location: Austin, TX
2018 Revenues: $104.5 million
Employees: 130
The Critical Number™: Profit Before Tax (PBT)

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Find a way to connect team members that work in different Vital Farms was founded in 2007 to bring ethically
locations while also giving associate more opportunities to have produced food like eggs and butter to the table
fun on the job. by coordinating a collection of family farms
to operate with a well-defined set of organic
Solution agricultural practices that includes the humane
treatment of farm animals as a central tenet. The
After learning about The Great Game of Business® (GGOB) from company has its headquarters in Austin, Texas,
the practitioners at Kerbey Lane Café in Austin, the leadership and a separate processing facility in Springfield,
team at Vital Farms made the move to hire a coach, Kevin Walter, Missouri.
and began rolling out Great Game™ at the end of 2018. The team
played its first MiniGame™ as a way to kick off GGOB starting in “GGOB has helped me to connect
February 2019. with my crew more than I thought
possible. Crew members reach out
Results to me about their ideas that they
have, and how they could impact our
While the team has been playing GGOB for less than a year, bonus. We have more interactions
they have seen purposeful and intentional shifts in their and conversations, it’s really a great
financials as well as how their team works and communicates feeling knowing the crew is bought
with each other. “I saw the Great Game as a way to engage all in and invested in this idea!”
of our crew members,” says Russell Diez-Canseco, the President ~ Zach Bartlett, 1st Shift Production
and CEO of Vital Farms. “If it had an impact on the financial Manager
performance of the company, that would be icing on the cake.
It’s all about engaging the individual and giving them a voice in
doing something they are proud of. It’s an all-hands effort to
generate an extreme level of ownership across the organization.
A system like this life or dies by our ability to capture people’s
imaginations.” He points to an example of how a crew member
took it upon himself to research the price from a supplier to see
if he could find a lower-cost provider. In just a few hours, he had
found a different vendor who offered a larger quantity of the
product at half the cost—something that saved the company
some $1,500.

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

“Through playing The Great Game of Business and opening our financials, our crew has
become a stronger and more educated company. We have taken the core tenants of The
Game, and weaved them into our everyday conversation, and because of that, we know what
defines winning!” ~ Heather Reinkemeyer, Crew & Community Relations Manager

MiniGame™ Spotlight

At Vital Farms’ processing facility in Springfield, they have created a
MiniGame Steering Committee as a way to ensure that the ideas for
games are coming from the team, rather than from leadership. The team
has already played six games since they got started in February, and five
of those have been wildly successful. One successful game, for example,
called “Wrappin’ and Rollin’” was built around improving the accuracy of
product loaded on trucks. Not only did the team win gifts cards for their
improvements in saving the company more than $24,000, they also won
beanies with the Vital Farms logo on them as well. More recently, the
team used a MiniGame to uncover a solution to a longstanding problem
with an egg carton stamping machine that’s already saved the company
more than $300,000.

“GGOB has taught me that every one of us can truly make a difference.”
~ Haley Markum, 2nd Shift Production Crew Member

What’s Next?

Next up for the team at Vital Farms is to get better at developing their
scorecards both in Austin and Springfield with a goal at getting better
at sharing the stories behind the numbers they’re tracking. The team is
also looking at ways to enhance its financial literacy training among team
members beyond what’s already happening inside the weekly huddles.

“The Great Game of Business operating system has made a substantial impact at our Vital Farms
processing facility in Springfield. Our crewmembers have become informed partners who are

invested in driving the success and growth of our company. I love the light bulb moments when a
crewmember makes a link between an action or activity they can control and The Critical Number!

And it’s been a personally rewarding vehicle for me to connect with crewmembers one-on-one
utilizing my financial insight and experience.” ~ Stacy Verts, Operations Finance Manager

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

Case Study

WebIT Services

Location: Naperville, IL
2018 Revenues: $2.7 million
Employees: 16
The Critical Number™: Net Profit

2019 Highlights

Challenge Company Background

Before playing the Great Game of Business®, WEBIT’s founder Founded in 1996, WEBIT Services specializes in
and President Eric Rieger was looking for help. “I didn’t feel like providing secure, reliable, and efficient managed
our team was fully engaged,” he says, “I also believed it was due technology solutions for a wide-range of
to our top down management style which didn’t give our team the businesses in the Chicago-land area.
full picture, nor did it empower anyone to make things better.”

Solution

When Rieger’s coach, Doug Diamond, suggested that he read
Jack Stack’s book, it had an immediate impact since Rieger’s
grandfather had worked down the road from International
Harvester in Melrose Park, IL, the same company SRC and the
Great Game of Business spun out of. “I remember going with my
father to pick my grandfather up from work. I know the area very
well and the whole message and story of SRC and how they saved
the company and turned things around really resonated with me”
he says. Rieger guided his team to start playing the Great Game of
Business in August 2016.

Results

While Rieger had some accounting experience from his college
days, he admits that opening the books and teaching financial
literacy through weekly huddles was the biggest eye opener for
both him and his team. Scoreboarding and High-Involvement
Planning™ in particular have had huge positive impacts in how the
business is run.
Providing financial literacy training and opening the books also
gave Rieger’s team deeper context about why certain decisions
were being made—or not made—based on protecting the bottom
line. “We’re in our third full year of playing the Game and it’s the
people that motivate me,” says Rieger. “When I was introduced
to Great Game™, I saw it as the missing piece of the puzzle in
our organization. We had some smart people, but they weren’t
able to connect the dots on how their jobs impacted not only our
business, but the business of the clients we serve. The culture has
done a complete 180 degrees since then.”

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com

MiniGame™ Spotlight

While the WEBIT team took quickly to playing MiniGames to address threats
and weaknesses in the business—one game helped them get caught up on
their documentation they create for their clients while another was targeted at
identifying potential new hires—they’ve admittedly struggled since to connect
team members’ roles and departmental KPIs with their impact on net profit.
“Some of the MiniGames are overly complicated or have scoreboards designed
where you can’t tell if we’re winning or not or even what the end goal is,” says
Rieger.

“The Great Game has positively impacted me in several ways. First, it’s the first time ever that
I’ve been invited to see my employer’s financials and feel like I can make a direct impact on
our success and see how the efforts can improve the bottom line. Second, being in a financial
role but not having the accounting background, I have learned a great deal about the P&L
and how each account plays a major role. Third, and last, in our company it has brought us
together, no matter what our role here, in a way that no other company has before. Weekly,
we gather and examine the costs. It may seem like some people are not outwardly showing
an interest, but I feel that they are just processing it all inside and may be too timid to speak
up for fear of looking foolish. That isn’t because anyone would make them feel that way, but

rather just human nature.” ~ Rachel Palm, Controller

What’s Next?

Aside from a commitment to improve how they approach their MiniGames,
Rieger also notes the team added an ESOP target component as a stretch goal
beginning in 2018. “Rather than continuing to just talk about it with nothing
tangible,” he says, “I wanted to put it in writing and track it so it would become
a real thing. We still have it in our 2019 plan, and it is being tracked on a
giant white board wall we have in our training room so that it is at the top of
everyone’s mind.”

“The GGOB it has taught me so much, including how every small percentage
impacts our daily lives both personally and professionally. It makes you think
about what is most important in our lives. We can accomplish anything with a set
plan and knowing what area in our career we can make the most impact. It also

showed me how to count on my teammates to direct our goal in the same
direction as a team. In the process we are also breaking down those secret walls

that should not be up in the first place.” ~Omar Ortega. Sr. Field Engineer

The Great Game of Business, Inc. | 2401 E. Sunshine St. | Springfield, MO 65804 | 800.386.2752 | greatgame.com