I thought I would take a minute and let you all know how Puget Systems is doing as a business and how our 2014 shaped up.
How was 2014? In a word? Stunning.
2014 was a rocket ship for us. It really tested the limits of our processes and manpower. The typical January is usually a quiet month around here, but last January was strong, and it caught our attention. The next few months were a reasonable climb, but it turned out to simply be a stretching of the slingshot that would absolutely blast us into the second half of the year.
Then in December, when we celebrated a milestone. It was our best month ever — by any measurement.
See, we have to keep an eye on the numbers, that's how we keep the lights on and feed our families, but that's not the most important thing to us. What really matters is being proud of the work we are doing. We want to improve. every. single. day. We want to be our own worst critic. If it wasn't giving away too much of the secret sauce, I would go on for pages about the intense scrutiny we put ourselves through.
The quality of our work, and the care of our customers, is a complete non-negotiable for us. This ethos is never tested so greatly as when the orders coming in are outpacing the processes we use to ply our craft. We are human, so in all honesty, there are thoughts of sacrifice. You know that pressure. It's the feeling you get when things are happening so fast you become solely concerned about simply getting through it.
We had to discipline ourselves, look each other in the eye and recommit. We had to check our own emotions and focus on breaking through this new barrier with our product, integrity and craft intact.
So, we looked at ourselves with fresh eyes, assumed nothing and rethought how we did things. We made a number of significant investments; in people, tools and infrastructure. Those changes not only got us through this surge in business, it has set us up for the next phase of growth.
Some problems are good to have, and 2015 presents that very situation. For this year, we have picked a word to align all of our goals against; that word is focus.
So in 2015, we are going to move even harder in our shift into the next season for our company. You will see expansions in some areas of our business and contraction in others. What you will never see is a wavering in our commitment to be the absolute best system builder. Period.
From everyone here at Puget Systems, we want to thank you for all of your business. We, and our families, really appreciate it.