Spanish to English Other Poetry & Literature colloquial expression

Hello!

I am translating an interview where this engineer is talking of the expansion of the company abroad. But he says that first the company must be strong in its homeland so their works operate smoothly and easily and not "a pedal", which means slowly and with great effort. Is there a similar expression in English?

Original:
Pero primero la empresa se tuvo que ir consolidando en su país, o sea para no estar en la emergencia de hacer funcionar la empresa ‘a pedal’, algo que requiere una organización estable...