Former Marine turns coins into business
This year Stafford-based Coins for Anything Inc. debuted
at No. 1,518 on the Inc. 5000, a list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private
companies in the U.S., for 210 percent revenue growth between 2005 and 2008. The
company reported $2.8 million in revenue in 2008 and is on track to make about
the same this year.
The business idea bloomed when Morin started selling
Challenge coins, typically military medallions with an organization’s emblem,
on eBay for extra cash.
A mother e-mailed him asking for a Marine mom-designed
coin, and after finding no coins like that on the market, Morin designed and
ordered 100 ‘Mother of Marine” coins that sold out within hours. His own mom,
who helped mail the individual coins, gave him a $500 loan to start the
business.
“I realized there was potential in this business, to
make some money instantly,” said Morin, who lives outside of
Requests to design customized coins came rolling in
—for military units, weddings and corporations. The company does 1,500 to 2,000
unique designs a year.
“Two years into it, I got a call from a marketing firm
in charge of Target stores,” Morin said.
Target requested 50,000 coins to be dished out to
eight major cities for the “Star Wars: Episode III” premiere the company was
sponsoring.
Today, big and small orders keep rolling in for coins
of various shapes, sizes and designs.
Morin’s coin business employs seven people, and a
couple of other businesses have branched off from it, including Shirts for
Anything and Lanyards for Anything. Morin said the company wants to construct a
building in
While 85 percent of the company’s clientele is
military, with challenge coins dished out for good conduct or promotions, in
the past four or five years the business has attracted a string of corporate
clients. Morin said coins are used for employee recognition, gift cards at
restaurants and VIP passes.
The company created thousands of coins for Clinton
Portis’ exclusive birthday bash at Love nightclub last year. The
football-shaped coins were used as VIP passes to get into the party, and
Morin’s company shipped out coins to the 2,000 invited guests. At The
Ritz-Carlton hotel in
Morin said he has been able to score accounts with
major companies because he emphasizes that Coins for Anything encompasses all
types of customized coins. Competitors, he says, have military jargon in their
name, which makes them sound too military-focused.
“Our name doesn’t limit our market,” he said. “Our Web
site’s look and feel is neutral between corporate and military, so we are not
potentially taking corporate clients away.”
This tough economic year has “been a struggle with
corporate accounts,” Morin said. And his military business has been hurting
too, he said. “Most military units have a morale fund, and even those have been
decreased, up to 25 to 30 percent from a year prior.”
The turnaround to produce an order of 15,000 to 20,000
coins is about 30 to 45 days, he said.
“From being a Marine I have been presented coins
myself,” Morin said. “I can see firsthand the difference in quality and weight
when I am given one from one general to another.”
The coins, which are made by a manufacturer in
Source: bizjournals.com