Two Contracts, One New Hire, and a Lot of Coffee:
This month has been a whirlwind. We’ve taken on two new contracts — both with completely different requirements — hired a new mechanical engineer, bought new equipment, started looking into office space, and had a crash course in writing policies and getting systems in place for a bigger team. Exciting? Absolutely. Stressful? Without a doubt. Coffee consumption? Let’s just say the local shop might need to increase their stock levels.
Running a small business is a constant balancing act of opportunity and risk, fun and frustration, learning and re-learning. This last month has been one of those turning points where it all hits at once, and I thought it was worth sharing some honest reflections — partly to get them out of my head, partly as advice for anyone thinking about scaling their own business.
The Contracts: Stretch vs. Sprint
The two new contracts we took on couldn’t be more different.
The first is a clean-sheet design project. It’s about starting from scratch, exploring ideas, testing different approaches, and taking the time to get the design right. It’s creative, methodical, and requires patience.
The second is the complete opposite: virtual prototyping, testing for potential failures, fixing them, and sending parts off for tooling modifications — all under tight time constraints. It’s fast, it’s urgent, and there’s no room for hesitation.
Both are exciting in their own way, but having them land together was a real push. It made us realise that if we wanted to deliver properly on both, something had to change. That “something” was capacity — and it became clear we needed more hands on deck.
The New Hire: Fresh Energy, Fresh Challenges
Enter our new mechanical engineer. Bringing someone new into the team has been one of the highlights of the month. The positives were immediate: extra capacity, fresh eyes, and a genuine eagerness to get involved and learn. It’s amazing what a difference that makes, both to workload and to team energy.
But hiring also comes with challenges. It’s not just about having another set of hands — it’s about being ready to integrate them. That meant getting systems and policies in place, making sure projects were aligned, and doing our best to get them up to speed quickly. We threw them in at the deep end, and they’ve been fantastic, but it reminded me just how much work sits behind “onboarding” someone in a small business.
The biggest lesson? Hiring is about more than filling a gap. It changes how you think about the business. Suddenly you’re not just responsible for the work, you’re responsible for the environment, the support, and the opportunities your staff need to thrive.
Scaling Up: More Than Just Buying Equipment
One of the first things we did was buy new equipment to make sure our new hire had the tools they needed. But we quickly realised that scaling isn’t just about hardware or software — it’s about how you work together.
As we bring in younger engineers, it’s clear they need support and nurturing, not just a desk and a project brief. It’s about building a culture of sharing ideas, supporting each other, and working as a team rather than as individuals.
We’ve also started exploring office space. Right now, we’re flexible, but having a permanent hub would help us look after our staff and deliver even better results for our clients. The fun part is imagining how we could design it in our own style. The stressful part? The added cost — especially when the new contracts haven’t yet translated into cash flow.
And then there’s project planning. With more people and more projects, we’ve had to go deeper into clear tracking and organisation. It’s not glamorous, but it’s necessary if we want to keep the wheels turning smoothly.
The Emotional Rollercoaster
If I had to sum up the emotional side of this month, it would be this: growth means taking a leap of faith.
Sometimes it’s better to bring in extra capacity before you’re completely overloaded. That way, you’re ready to take on opportunities when they come, rather than scrambling to survive. But with that comes responsibility — making sure your staff have the work, the environment, and the support they need.
That’s a heavy responsibility, but it’s also a privilege. We’ve tried to build the kind of policies and culture that we’d want to work in ourselves, and seeing that start to take shape has been one of the most rewarding parts of the month.
Of course, there’s worry. How will projects get completed? How will clients react if I’m not as directly involved in every detail? Will this new format work? Those thoughts are real — but they’ve been outweighed by excitement.
The best moment of the month came when our new hire jumped straight into a client project and made an immediate impact. Seeing the project move forward faster, and knowing the client felt the benefit, was a huge win. It proved that the leap of faith was worth it.
Advice for Anyone Scaling a Small Business
If you’re thinking about growing your own small business, here are the lessons I’d pass on from this month:
Be prepared for stress — it comes with the territory.
Consider adding capacity before you’re drowning. It feels like a risk, but it gives you room to breathe and take on new opportunities.
Build the kind of environment you’d want to work in. Policies aren’t just paperwork; they shape culture.
Let go of a little control. Growth means you can’t be involved in everything — and that’s okay. The right people will multiply your impact.
Remember the excitement. Stress is temporary, but growth means progress — and that’s worth holding onto.
Final Thoughts
So yes, this month has been stressful. But it’s also been exciting, rewarding, and a clear step forward for us as a business. Growth is messy. It doesn’t always feel comfortable. But it’s also proof that the way we’re working — “design engineering… done differently” — is delivering real value to our clients.
And if the formula right now feels like:
stress + coffee + the right people = progress
…then I’ll happily keep refining it.
Author: Oliver Diebel