Machine Shop Growth

In Part 2 of our three-part growth series, Mike and Kirk tackle the essential—but often neglected—side of machine shop growth: improving your bottom line. Before chasing more revenue, it’s critical to plug the profit leaks that are silently eroding your business. From tooling waste and bloated staff structures to broken quoting systems and inefficient processes, this episode dives deep into real-w...

Episode 7: Growing Your People In this episode, Mike and Kirk shine a spotlight on the most powerful—and often untapped—driver of machine shop growth: your team. Kicking off a three-part series on scaling your business, they explore why developing people isn't optional, it's foundational. From floor operators to future leaders, they discuss how to identify growth potential, build clear p...

If you’ve been leveraging MEP programs for training, grants, or equipment purchases, there’s a chance that these benefits could be going away. Today, we’re talking about the potential changes to these programs, what it means for your shop, and how to prepare if these resources are no longer available. We’re resharing this important discussion from the Making Chips podcast to broaden the discussion...

Big question for shop owners: Where does growth actually start? In this value-packed episode, we bring together our full leadership team—Mike, Kirk, Steve, and Hank—for a high-impact discussion on what it really takes to grow a machine shop. From the shop floor to your inbox, growth opportunities are everywhere… but most owners feel overwhelmed about where to begin. Should you focus on sales? Mark...

Exciting news – we've officially joined the Making Chips podcast family! In this debut episode, we dive into the transformative world of customer acquisition and share innovative strategies to expand your business without diluting quality. Join us as we explore proven tactics for engaging new customers effectively, while maintaining the loyalty of your existing base. We'll discuss how to...

In this episode, we're tackling the dynamic and challenging world of acquiring new customers. As the final installment of our three-part series on customer acquisition strategies, we focus on the most discussed yet misunderstood segment: new customer engagement. We'll break down why pursuing new customers isn't always necessary for growth and how, in some cases, it's possible t...

In this episode, we're diving into the often-overlooked but incredibly valuable topic of re-engaging dormant customers. After exploring how to grow current customer relationships in our previous episode, we're now shifting focus to those who've slipped away. We'll discuss why customers become dormant, how it's not always due to negative experiences, and the subtle art of r...

The 3 Types of Customers. In Today’s episode of the Machine Shop Growth podcast Kirk Phelps and I talk about the 3 different types of customers.  This is going to be a 3 part series . This week we talk about the first (and most lucrative) customer to work with!  Make sure you tune in and enjoy!

Here’s a question for you—are you running your shop, or is your shop running you? In this episode of the Machine Shop Growth Podcast , Kirk and I are diving into the 3 biggest challenges shop owners face—things most of us don’t even realize are slowing us down: 1️⃣ Why trying to do it all might be your biggest mistake. 2️⃣ How one simple change could completely transform your workflow. 3️⃣ The sur...