I can say from my experience that I spent at least 2 In-game-weeks only working Projects to gain enough Money for the second Office Upgrade, after having finished all the Cooking-class-girls Quests and winning the Cooking competition. while I was working on them I went to school before noon and always worked at my Company in the afternoons. I think this was in .84 (The one before the cooking Competition was made easier), so if you tweaked this in the most recent Version, this is a moot Point. And if this is intended, it is fine too. To go from a small startup to a large Company without even having the feeling to have to work for it would probably feel a little less rewarding and maybe even stupid.
I also should say, though, that this was a relatively short Time-period, especially when compared to other games, and to the 95% of content happening before that had basically no Grinding attached to it. Sometimes you had to repeat encounters more than once to gain the necessary stats, especially when there happens to be only one Encounter that provides the sepcific Stat needed, but that is barely worth to be called Grind, in my Opinion.
Also to the Point of the Cooking Competition: After the .85 (I think?) made it easier, I did beat it on the first Try after failing miserably for a long while before. So I feel it's fine now. However, if you could find an alternative Minigame or more clear Instructions for the first one (Stirring), that would be a big Upgrade. It feels incredibly clunky and has less clear Instructions than the others, I beat it by flailing my Mouse long enough to complete one Round somehow, which thankfully was enough.
