From $50K to $250K in Profit.

What We Actually Worked On

The coaching work with Adam wasn't about marketing or sales tactics. It was about building the infrastructure that would let the business grow without requiring more of Adam's personal bandwidth to carry it.

Understanding the Numbers

Adam had revenue. What he didn't have was visibility. We started by getting the right numbers in front of him — the metrics that actually told the story of the business. Quotes generated, purchase orders converted, margin by job type, production output per team member. Once Adam could see the business clearly, he could start making decisions based on data instead of instinct.

Stepping Out of the Work

The hardest shift for any owner who built their business by being the best at what they do is learning to stop doing it. We worked with Adam on identifying which tasks only he could do and which tasks he was doing simply because no one else had been given the system to do them. Slowly, methodically, we moved work off his plate and onto the team's.

Hiring and Building the Team

When Adam came to us he had three team members. We helped him identify the right roles to hire for, build a profile for each position, and develop an onboarding process that got new team members productive faster. Over 18 months his team grew from 3 to 8, and then to 12 — each hire adding capacity without adding chaos.

Knowing the Levers

In a machine shop, the numbers that matter most are quotes, purchase orders, throughput, and margin. We helped Adam identify the specific levers that moved each of those numbers — and, just as importantly, when to pull them. The business stopped feeling reactive and started feeling like something Adam was steering.

Efficiency and Gross Margin

As the team grew and the systems improved, the focus shifted to the quality of revenue — not just the volume of it. We worked with Adam on reducing rework, minimizing material waste, and increasing the speed of delivery. The result was a higher gross margin on the same or greater volume of work.

The Shift That Changed Everything

The revenue numbers are impressive. But the number that matters most to Adam isn't on a financial statement.

It's this: his business now runs better when he's not there.

On paternity leave. On vacation. Out of the office for a day. His team follows the systems, manages the numbers, and keeps the operation moving — without him holding it together.

"I finally understood what it meant to be a CEO. Not just a doer of everything — but a manager and a leader at the top of the organization."

That shift — from owner-as-operator to owner-as-leader — is what unlocked everything else. The revenue growth, the team growth, the profit growth. All of it followed from Adam learning a different way to be in his business.

And at the end of 2025, Zimmer Design and Manufacturing hit a new monthly sales record. In the first part of 2026, they nearly matched it again — putting them on a path toward a $4 million annual run rate in a business that was just under $1 million when we started.