Contact
Subscribe
Dec 18, 2008 
Well it’s been a great year to say the absolutely least. If you read through the blog you will see earlier posts of hope and vision to guide me through the building of this company. A lot of times when I write I am often speaking out loud or sharing my hopes and dreams with the people that would like to read them. I guess in many ways it’s my online diary about my passion. So some might ask where we have grown in 2008, or did we complete anything we set out to do this year. On the surface a simple yes disguises what has really happened in the last 12 months. I will provide a bigger picture of what we have become in 2003. I (Adam) was just a seller on eBay (adamx8) peddling patches to collectors. Today we are literally a full grown company that has employees, inventory, reputation, and solid footing. That’s an amazing accomplishment in 5 years and especially if you are familiar with the details of the moves we have made. In 2009 we are easily on the track to be the #1 producer of custom challenge coins with a store that is triple of our nearest competitor, and frankly this is all bullshit aside.
Starting in January you will see an explosion of awareness about our company. We have gone national in a way no one else has and we are very proud of where our endless hours behind the work we have done for our members. We have literally worked around the clock to make sure deadlines were met, people we answered, and products were delivered with expectations exceeded. So thats all I will say to segway into 2009.
Back to 2008 as I want to stay somewhat on track. We made over 500 customs orders through the year. This is serving everyone from 4-star generals, agency directors, cabinet members, and all the way down to high school JROTC cadets. This is significant because we came from nowhere in a way with our new name. We have doubled our productivity every month from starting this website in October, 2007. If I go from this analysis alone I would say we are on target to make over 5,000 different coins or more in 2009. Tell me another company that has a growth pattern like that, because 2010 will only dwarf 2009 and so on.
My thoughts on challenge coins in 2008 has changed me slightly from just trying to be original in my designs to become a true industry leader in all areas of the hobby. Everyday I wake up with only one goal in mind, and thats asking myself “How do I make things better and expand?”. At the end of the day I have to guage what I accomplished toward that goal and try to do better the next time I wake. In many ways I have been humbled this year and I am thankful for each opportunity I have been given whether it was a job for a Fire & Rescue unit or a coin for a unit in Iraq. I know many times I toot my horn or brag about the success but I do this to motivate myself and others to show it’s possible to achieve. My passion runs deep and I never view U.S. Challenge Coins as a money making machine. I take a serious view as it being a vehicle to make an impact in someone’s life even if it’s small. This is my absolute true feelings. I am not here to become the Google of Challenge Coins but rather to open the hobby to people that have never seen it before.
When I began doing this I wanted to do something no other company has ever done. I think I have to this point achieved that mission. This year alone I have built another 100 sites dedicated to collecting, informing, and dynamically impacting collecting as we know it. I think many people to include any other challenge coin company has recognized this and in some ways benefited from my continuous work in bring activity to the internet. It’s simple things like cataloging every challenge coin known to man in the Challenge Coin Database, or getting better auctions with people who want to buy and sell challenge coins. These are the projects that I find interesting because it’s not just me trying to sell you a coin. It’s me helping to strengthen the niche in anyway possible.
My final thoughts about 2008 is simple, I will take what I know and have accomplished and go beyond them. I want to make people that have never collected a challenge coin collect them, and I want people that love to collect want to collect even more. I want to show people buying custom challenge coins to get the best possible deal in the world, and I want people to know there is no reason to go elsewhere for anything. I have you covered no matter what you want to do within the hobby itself. No one else has taken this mission to heart and frankly I am saddened by this because one person can achieve a lot but many can achieve it all. So I hope I left you with something interesting to read and hope you come back for more.
