We were lucky to catch up with Mike Alberding recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mike, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?

We’re still in the process of scaling, but we’ve come a long way from where we started. The idea for Motiv Engineering began in our college dorm rooms, me at Kansas State University and Isaac at the University of Kentucky. We had worked on projects together in high school and quickly realized we had a complementary way of thinking. Our skill sets meshed almost perfectly, allowing us to solve problems together in ways we couldn’t alone.
When we officially launched three years ago, we moved into a completely blank space. It was a 2,000 square foot industrial unit with concrete floors, a bathroom, and nothing else. We had no investors, no other employees, and very little money to get started. Everything we needed, we had to build or buy ourselves.
The first phase of our growth was all about building, both in terms of ideas and infrastructure. We knew we wanted to be a full-service engineering solutions company, capable of designing, prototyping, manufacturing, and testing all in house. But we had none of the tools to do that yet. So, we started small, setting up workbenches, building desks, and acquiring machines piece by piece.
Our first major machine was a custom built three axis CNC that we designed ourselves. That machine helped us secure some of our first big jobs, and every project we took on funded the next step forward. In those early years, we said yes to almost everything. If a client needed something we couldn’t manufacture with our existing tools, we found a way, often taking on major infrastructure projects just to make the job possible. Each new challenge forced us to expand our capabilities, and over time, we built out a fully functional shop.
About a year ago, we hit a turning point. We had most of the equipment we needed, a properly outfitted office, and the ability to take on more complex projects without having to reinvent the wheel every time. That was a huge milestone. But now, we’re facing the next challenge: manpower. There’s only so much Isaac and I can do ourselves, and we’re at the point where hiring additional people and setting up financial systems like lines of credit are becoming necessary for continued growth.
Scaling a business has been the hardest thing we’ve ever done. It’s one thing to start with nothing; it’s another to grow strategically while making sure every dollar is spent wisely. We’ve had to be resourceful, flexible, and willful with our goals to get to where we are. But that’s been our experience with growth. It’s messy and uncertain. We’re still learning as we go, but we know one thing for sure: scaling isn’t about “overnight success”. It’s about persistence, adaptability, and making the most of what you have… until you have more.

Mike, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Isaac and I got into this business because of a shared passion for engineering. Both of us have analytical minds, but what really set everything in motion was our working relationship. We’ve known eachother since high school, where we quickly realized we had a complementary way of thinking. That dynamic became the foundation of Motiv Engineering.
At Motiv Engineering, our goal is simple: to solve problems. We want to be the company that people turn to when they need engineering expertise. Whether they have a concept that needs development, a prototype that needs refinement, or a manufacturing challenge. Our strength lies in our ability to take a project from start to finish, handling design, prototyping, manufacturing, and testing.
Over the past few years, we’ve worked across a wide range of industries. We’ve helped biotech companies with both prototype and production parts, some of which are now in use on active assembly lines. We’ve worked with solar companies on everything from structural design to the electronics that control solar array movement. We also assist companies in bringing products to market, whether that’s prototyping a new product or scaling it into full production. Beyond that, we also enjoy taking on creative projects, partnering with local businesses to create unique artwork and high-end corporate gifts.
While we have diverse capabilities, our core focus is on engineering services. Our expertise includes CAD modeling, CNC machining, 3D printing, composite fabrication, 3D scanning, and FEA/CFD simulation. What sets us apart is our fully integrated approach. Unlike many firms, we do everything under one roof. This allows us to collaborate more effectively with clients, maintain tighter control over projects, and adapt quickly to their specific needs.
At its core, Motiv Engineering is a multidisciplinary engineering and manufacturing firm. We work across multiple industries, with a strong emphasis on R&D, machine design, and large assembly projects. We’re also actively registered with CAGE, SAM.gov, and DSBS, positioning us as a key contracting partner.
More than anything, I want potential clients and partners to know that we are problem solvers at heart. We’re not just here to take on jobs. We’re here to help people turn ideas into reality, to innovate, and to push the boundaries of what’s possible.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

While Motiv Engineering is primarily an engineering services company, we also sell products directly to consumers through GridForge, a subsidiary we created to bring unique, high quality manufactured products to market. We wanted an outlet that wasn’t strictly engineering focused but still leveraged our manufacturing capabilities.
We started by selling on Etsy, which was an interesting experience. There’s a bit of a snowball effect with Etsy. Once we hit a certain threshold of monthly sales, we saw our products get more visibility, which led to even more sales. The biggest advantage of Etsy is the built in customer base. Millions of people are already on the platform searching for unique, high quality products. This made it easier to reach an audience compared to starting from scratch with our own website. However, the trade off is the cost of advertising and platform fees. At its worst, our ad spend was breaking even (one dollar spent for one dollar earned) but at its best, we were achieving margins of about 75% after accounting for ad costs. Even with those costs, Etsy has been valuable for brand awareness and moving inventory.
That said, we prefer selling through our own website (GridForgeMFG.com). It gives us more control over how customers interact with our brand, the type of advertising we run, and (most importantly) lower fees. Our goal is to transition to exclusively selling through our website by the end of 2025.
We also explored selling on platforms like Amazon, TikTok Shop, and eBay, but we ran into a manpower issue. Managing listings, maintaining presence, and fulfilling orders on multiple platforms requires time we don’t have. Instead, we’ve focused on scaling one step at a time, making sure we can provide the best customer experience without stretching ourselves too thin.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

One of the key advantages of GridForge is that we manufacture every single product in-house. This wasn’t something we had to figure out, luckily. We already had Motiv Engineering’s infrastructure at our disposal.
The idea for GridForge started as a way to maximize machine uptime. With a fully equipped engineering and manufacturing firm, there are natural downtimes between client jobs. We saw an opportunity to fill that downtime by creating and selling our own products.
Manufacturing our own products has also helped us refine our machining process and push our creativity. Some design and manufacturing solutions we’ve developed for GridForge have directly influenced client work, allowing us to innovate faster and experiment in ways we wouldn’t normally be able to.
The biggest lesson we’ve learned: owning the entire process from design to production to fulfillment means total control over quality. We don’t rely on third party vendors, which allows us to iterate quickly and make improvements whenever we see an opportunity.

Contact Info:

• Website: motivengineering.co — gridforgemfg.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/motiv.engineering — www.instagram.com/gridforgemfg
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-alberding-9a606016b
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GridForgeMFG

Image Credits

all OC