But occasions such as acknowledgement in this week’s Deloitte Fast 50 celebrations provided an opportunity to reflect on the journey, at a time when co-founder Dan Young quipped it was "good chaos".
The Wanaka-based company makes hand-crafted stainless steel and cedar hot tubs which are available in both New Zealand and Australia.
This year, it was both the national winner and regional category winner for manufacturing in the Deloitte Fast 50 index, placing 10th on the index with 374% growth.
Last year, it placed 31st on the index and was also the fastest growing manufacturing business for Dunedin and the lower South Island.
Mr Young was stoked with the business’ growth story and said it came with a huge effort.
Growth came with the need for systems to support it, and rapid expansion could expose a few gaps in processes, but that helped to build a better business, he said.
It was easy to "get lost in the madness" and so it was nice to attend an event, such as the Fast 50 regional celebration in Dunedin, and let it sink in.
Stoked Stainless had humble origins when its founders, Mr Young and Andrew Horton, decided they would make a hot tub for themselves.
They worked at an engineering firm and their expertise was in stainless steel — they had made wine and dairy tanks which went all over New Zealand.
When friends and family saw the finished hot tub, they were impressed and orders started rolling in. After Mr Young was made redundant from his job in 2016, it motivated him to have a decent crack at Stoked.
He got stuck into Stoked full-time and, a year later, Mr Horton left his job and joined the business full-time. At that point, they were making hot tubs in their garages, each with a worker.
It later operated from a five-bay shed halfway between Albert Town and Hawea, before moving to a purpose-built facility in Wanaka’s industrial area, which included a showroom, last year.
Business had "pretty much doubled every year" and the real focus now was on tapping into the Australian market, Mr Young said.
Shipping was a "huge" issue at the moment and the exchange rate also meant it went against the business for buying raw materials. The Ukraine-Russia war also had an impact on the supply chain.
He attributed the rapid growth to several factors.
Covid-19 and people’s inability to travel meant they were spending money on things such as e-bikes, hot tubs and spas to make their own environments better.
Word of mouth was also a big factor. As more tubs were bought — it was very hard to put into words what it was like to bathe in one — it worked "like a spider web" as more people were introduced to them and made a purchase, he said.
It was also about quality, innovation and the materials used — stainless steel and cedar were a "really nice combination" which looked great against the backdrop of Central Otago schist.
Rectangular plunge spa pools were getting some traction — they could seat about 14 people and did not require the traditional excavation of putting in a pool.
Stoked was about to launch a new product: a square 2m by 2m spa, the shape resonating with some customers who preferred it to its round counterpart.
Asked whether people’s ability to travel again would slow down sales, Mr Young said he was not expecting a tail off, largely because of the word of mouth aspect.
While people were "making noises about the economy", things such as wine sales did not drop in the Global Financial Crisis in 2008.
People wanted to relax at the end of the week, "and try and find some sort of escape from rough times".
In fact, last week, Stoked Stainless notched up a record week, nearing $500,000 in revenue.
The business employed about 16 staff on-site in Wanaka and there were also two sub-contractor facilities.
A general manager, Mike Daish, had been appointed. He had about 15 years global experience with Dyson and "knows what growth looks like".
As far as his own relaxation, Mr Young said he still enjoyed sitting in his own tub.
"It’s quite amazing — after more than 10 years of making these, it never gets old," he said.
Other regional category winners were Element Raw Materials (retail or consumer products business), Remarkable People (services), Pacific Edge (technology, exporter) and Connor Jones (construction).
