I can’t tell you how many people questioned my decision to expand into the Central Valley in 2009 during the worst part of the recession. But I knew that it would take time to get established and learn how to operate from a satellite office.

I also knew I would survive the recession and I figured by the time I got it all figured out the economy would beon the mend and we would be positioned in the market to expand our business per plan.

We decided on Stockton as the most central location for coverage. What I didn’t know at the time was that we would be doing business all over Northern California, not just the Central Valley. North to Weed, South to Tulare and East to Truckee and Tahoe, we covered it all.

After working out of our leased space which was small and inadequate for these past two years we’ve decided that Stockton is indeed the place we want to be and as I type we are in negotiations on an office and yard that will serve our needs well into the future. (Open house coming soon!)

So let me recap; in 2009 as our sales were dropping by 25% (to approximately $18 million) I decided to expand into the Central Valley. (Brilliant!!!) In 2010 we were able to get sales close to where we were in 2008 (approximately $24 million) $6 million in sales came out of the Stockton office. (Really???) That’s the difference between 2009 and 2010. (What if we had not expanded?) In 2011 our sales were approx $27 million and the Stockton office was a big part of that. (That’s 12.5% growth, in a shaky economy!) For 2012 we’re looking for $30 million and the further expansion of our Stockton (Northern California) office. That’s what I call strategic planning (on a wing and a prayer).  Well, it’s like I always say… it’s better to be lucky than smart…

BUT! Normal is coming soon… How long has it been since we could say business was normal? Not Dot Com Boom/Bust, not Housing Market Boom/Bust. Just normal… remember that? Well, I think normal is on its way. And I’m not talking about the new normal either (I hate that term); I’m talking about the old normal. The normal, normal…

That’s what it feels like to me and everyone I’m talking to these days says business is getting better and things are improving. That’s a good sign that we’re on our way to recovery and once we’ve recovered… everything will be normal… Just in time for us to screw it up again. And so it goes… Normally I’d have something prophetic to say about that, but we’re not there yet, so I don’t…

See you around (when it’s normal)