27 Types of People for Whom I’m Grateful as a Small Business Owner (2023)

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wanted to express my gratitude for various types of people who have had a positive impact on me and Stonemaier Games this year. Perhaps some of these people will be good resources for you as well.

I’m incredibly thankful for…

1. Backers, Fans, and Followers (Facebook, enewsletter, YouTube, Instagram, Discord): None of this would be possible without you. I truly hope our games and content have brought you joy this year. Thank you for supporting our games, and thank you for sharing them with others. Our 2023 releases were Tapestry: Fantasies & Futures, Expeditions, Wingspan vision-friendly cards, Apiary, the Wingspan Fan Art Pack, disc golf discs, and new Rolling Realms promos. It’s been really helpful when you’ve signed up for prelaunch notifications for new games–it helps us plan ahead, and this year’s signups resulted in Stonemaier Games donating over $33,000 to some amazing charities!
2. Stonemaier Champions: I’m incredibly grateful for the 14,000+ Champions who support the 100+ blog entries and 150+ YouTube videos we film each year for creators and designers, and having Champions use their 20% discount on every order (among other perks) to buy directly from us has been a huge help in stabilizing the sustainability of Stonemaier Games.
3. Coworkers (Alan Stone, Joe Aubrey, Alex Schmidt, Susannah Eisenbraun, Dave Deenik, Christine Santana): It’s so helpful for me to always have people who know the business as well as I do to bounce ideas off of, playtest with, be accountable to, and delegate to, especially in areas where I am weak and they are strong.
4. Independent Contractors Who Feel Like Coworkers (Morten Monrad Pedersen, Dave Hewer, Shannon Lentz, Karel Titeca): These are people who have other clients and jobs, but they do a lot of amazing work for Stonemaier Games, and I’m incredibly grateful for them.
5. Retailers and Distributors (see retailers who sell our products): You are the backbone of our supply chain. Thank you for being the bridge between Stonemaier and customers.
6. Shareholders: We’re fortunate to have a few investors who believe in what we’re building at Stonemaier Games and who share excellent advice, questions, idea, and insights. I’m really grateful for our shareholders.
7. Independent Contractors and Freelancers: Notable artists for 2022 releases were Andrew Bosley, Jakub Rozalski, Kwanchai Moriya, and Miles Bensky, along with ongoing support in the form of sculpts (Heriberto Martinez), videos (JC Trombley), voiceovers (Megan Selke), music composition (Joel Winbigler), photos (Tim Chuon and Netinho da Costa), Henry Seymour (game teaching), Ira Fay (playtest app development), and Andrew Cook (advertising). I’m so grateful that these people communicate quickly and effectively–-I highly value that.
8. Lawyers, Accountants, Bookkeepers, Advisors, and Payroll (Scot Duvall, Zachary Strebeck, Justin Marty & Leigh Reiter at Anders Accounting, Stephanie at Timely Totals, Daisy, Stephanie, and Linda at Execupay, Chris Fleming at our bank, Tony Aiazzi, and Lydia Wehmeyer): I’m very grateful to have two great lawyers to help us create tight contracts, secure solid trademarks, and protect our IP, as well as a great accounting and financial advisors. This year I’ve also really appreciated the help of Evan and Robert at Anders for our state sales tax registrations.
9. International Production Partners (Igromag, Feuerland, Maldito, Phalanx, Matagot, Delta Vision, Arclight, Surfin’ Meeple, Ludofy, ALBI, Ghenos, 999 Games, Rebel, and many others): Thanks to these partners, we’ve been able to reach tens of thousands of gamers who wouldn’t otherwise have access to our products. I really appreciate that these partners strive to meet deadlines for translations and payments.
10. Replacement Part Helpers (Helen, Mark, Devon, Christian, Dave, and Yannis): To date, we have received and responded to over 30,000 replacement parts requests. I’m incredibly grateful to have these diligent helpers positioned around the world to take care of lost, missing, and broken components from our products.
11. Automa: The inclusion of robust solo variants in our games thanks to Morten, David, Lines, and other members of their team has been instrumental in extending our reach to solo gamers. I’m constantly amazed by how well Automa Factory is able to capture the feeling of a sentient opponent without requiring much upkeep or rules overheard.
12. The Mill: I really appreciate that Dusty, Carol, and Molly maintain a sponsored YouTube channel specifically to talk about Stonemaier Games from a fan perspective. Our Facebook groups are great for those conversations, but Dusty really breathes life to our fanbase through The Mill, and we’re proud to support it.
13. Digital Platforms (Tabletopia, Monster Couch, The Knights of Unity, Asmodee Digital, Acram Digital, Digidiced, Board Game Arena, Boardspace.net, DTDA, and TTS): The skill to take a tabletop game and translate it to the digital space for more people to discover, enjoy, and learn from is astonishing to me. I’m so impressed by and grateful for these folks. I’m also really grateful for Paul Hart, the developer of the free Stonemaier Scores app.
14. Shipping and Fulfillment Companies (ARC Global, Spiral Galaxy, Aetherworks, Miniature Market, and Asmodee Canada): While most of our games are shipped in bulk to distributors, we have offered more viable direct-shipping options this year thanks to these fulfillment companies. We even now offer local pickup in St. Louis!
15. Co-Designers and Game Designers (Ben Rosset, Matthew O’Malley, Hoby Chou, Kai Starck, Ryan Lopez, Elizabeth Hargrave, Morten Monrad Pedersen, David Studley, Travis Jones, Alexander Schmidt, Mike Young, Paolo Mori, Francesco Testini, Mihir Shah, Chris Scaffidi, Connie Vogelmann, and others to be revealed next year): The talent and dedication of these designers is astounding, and they are integral to our success.
16. Manufacturers (Shannon at Panda Game Manufacturing and Chris at Innova): It’s a true blessing to work with a manufacturer like Panda. Their communication, quality, care, and willingness to work with us on things like making our games more eco-friendly makes them the only manufacturer I ever want to work with. It’s also been fun to continue to make custom discs with Innova this year!
17. Proofreaders: Last year we implemented a new proofreading and oversight process so that a dedicated group of proofreaders can see every step of a product’s evolution during the proofreading process, and we continue to use and hone that process. I’m incredibly grateful to the time and effort that Dana, Michael, Josh, Ian, Brian, Dusty, Inga, Justin, Jake, Lydia, Crystal, and others have put into our products this year.
18. Ambassadors: Our ambassadors have made my life so much easier by answering questions on forums, playtesting our games, and making suggestions for my top 10 lists (and even joining me to film some of those videos!). We currently have around 550 active ambassadors–I love that I can trust this group with ideas while they’re still being formed to get their feedback. A few ambassadors are particularly helpful on an ongoing basis are Josh Ward, Joshua Heizer, and Julie Bode (though I should really stress that there are many, many active ambassadors who offer their time and talent in incredible ways).
19. Reviewers, Bloggers, Podcasters, and Video Bloggers: I can’t play every game, but thanks to the variety of perspectives from other content creators, I’m able to listen a variety of perspectives from the comfort of my office. I’m also truly grateful for all of the reviewers who create compelling content to help people decide if our games are a good fit for them.
20. Convention and Event Coordinators/Volunteers (Geekway to the West, Gen Con, Essen, TantrumCon, any convention that uses the play-and-win system, etc): It takes a lot of work to put together a convention, and I’m grateful for my coworker, Dave, for jumping into the challenge feet first (and with the support of the wonderful people at Meeplesource and Inside Up Games). I’m so grateful for the people who create such welcoming environments for old and new gamers to commune with each other, as well as the volunteers who help us at those events. You can always check here to see if we’ll have a presence at a convention.
21. Blog Readers, Video Viewers, and Commenters (full KS Lesson list and game design YouTube channel): I hope this blog, my weekly livestream, Instagram feed, my bi-weekly Rolling Realms liveplays, and our YouTube channel add value to you, and I really appreciate when you join in the conversation.
22. Design Day Attendees: The creative energy and generosity of time and talent at our annual Design Day is always inspiring for me. Thank you to all of the designers and playtesters who attended in 2023, and especially to Pieces Board Game & Cafe for being awesome hosts.
23. Fellow Creators: I love that there are so many brilliant, innovative creators and game designers. You all truly inspire me to be a better creator and a more interesting game designer. I’m particularly grateful for fellow publishers who share their advice, insights, and insights (publicly and privately)–I learn so much from you!
24. My Gaming Groups: Gaming is my main social outlet, and I’m really grateful to have a few consistent game groups filled with people who love a wide variety of games. I like that these people try to win but focus on having fun, and it’s been fun to play every other week with local friends in person and every other week on Board Game Arena with friends outside of St. Louis.
25. Charity Auction Donors: The extremely generous donors (along with other contributors like Fulfillrite and participating content creators) who placed winning bids on our annual charity auction made it the biggest yet, putting our total donation amount over all charity auctions at $154,631.
26. Leaderboard Participants: We’re always gathering data about our games if people are willing to report it, and I really appreciate those who continue to share their scores and other data for the Tapestry, Expeditions, and Apiary leaderboards. Thank you!
27. Friends, Family, and Cats: I’m very grateful for the many ways my friends and family support me in my never-ending passion for Stonemaier Games. This year presented a new challenge when we had to say goodbye to my beloved cat of 16+ years, Biddy, when his little body could no longer fight the cancer that ate away at him. Biddy has been here for my entire Stonemaier journey, and he’ll continue that journey through Easter eggs in our games, but it’s been really hard without him by my side every day.

If you’re a fellow entrepreneur, for whom are you grateful this year?

If you gain value from the 100 articles Jamey publishes on this blog each year, please consider championing this content! You can also listen to posts like this in the audio version of the blog.

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