Fun in Motion Toys “believes in creating mesmerizing toys that provide movement and activities that stimulate the mind and body for hours of fun – day and night.” Born out of a passion for making Polynesian spin balls, the company now develops and sells a variety of engaging toys from Shashibo puzzles to Karmagami sensory toys in the U.S., Europe, and other markets.
“I just love that our products make you think,” said Sadie Stewart, Vice President of Finance and Administration for Fun in Motion Toys. “Some make you move. But what’s best is that they give alternative options to screen time. It’s been rewarding to see the benefits our toys bring to children – and adults.”
Not only have Fun in Motion’s award-winning products benefitted their customers, but they have catapulted the small business into a rapidly expanding empire. Initially just five employees, the company staffing has grown at a rate of more than 250 percent, leading to rapid-scale hiring and a still-expanding staff of 18. In fact, its explosive growth landed Fun in Motion Toys at 281 in Inc. magazine’s annual Inc. 5000 list, a prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies.
“It’s phenomenal,” said Stewart. “About three years ago, we started experiencing a significant growth in sales. Between 2018-2021, we actually experienced nearly 2,000 percent growth. But with that progress came some growing pains.”
For Stewart, the sole in-house finance department staff member who also wears a number of other hats, her time became her most valuable commodity. That meant efficiency reigned supreme, and she had to find ways to tighten her day-to-day tasks to free her up to address strategic business development issues. Thankfully, she was introduced to Veem.
Prior to her arrival, Fun in Motion had been leveraging Veem for some payments, but not very often. But Stewart found value immediately in the system through its bill pay feature and integration with global small business platform Xero. (Check out the tutorial on how this integration works here).
“With Veem, once a vendor is set up, everything syncs together,” said Stewart. “The bill goes straight from Xero to Veem. I see it. I see that it is set to go. I just need to review and approve the bill. That’s it.”
Stewart has found this particularly helpful with the commission checks for sales representatives that are processed monthly. Prior to Veem, the company would manually create bill payments in Xero for each of their 15 sales reps, and replicate for accounting purposes. Leveraging Xero’s accounting capabilities in partnership with Veem, the organization has accelerated their workflow and increased efficiency.
“Our volume of bills has increased exponentially, and Veem has been a wonderful way to get them paid a lot quicker,” said Stewart. “Something that would have previously taken hours, now takes minutes.”
Veem has not only made bill pay quicker, but it has cut the data entry associated with payments. Today, when invoices come to Fun in Motion, they are read electronically, published to Xero, and then transferred to Veem for payment—all without having to input any data manually. “With Veem, there is so much less data input,” said Stewart. “I don’t have to manually put anything in. It makes the whole process seamless and accurate.”
Fun in Motion has also enjoyed cost savings with its use of Veem. With its sales growth, the company has multiplied its number of international vendors over the years. Prior to the increased use of Veem, the toy company would send payments via wire at a cost of $36 per wire. Now, they use Veem for international payments, eliminating the wire costs and other fees associated with international transactions.
“Now, we have distributors and shippers all over the world, and we have to make international payments to them,” said Stewart. “Many already have Veem set up, and those that don’t are typically open to using it. And I love that we are able to send payments without them having to create an account. It’s helped us reduce international payment fees so much.”
For Fun in Motion and Stewart, Veem has been invaluable. “It has so many great features,” said Stewart. “And I look forward to investigating new ways to use the platform for our growing needs.”
