ThisWeek Keys to Success 01/19/2012
When Mike Rosati looks out his window, he sees more sunny days ahead.
The owner of Rosati Windows said his business is well-prepared, not just for the climate outside but also for the financial climate.
“I think a lot of the decisions we’ve made in prior years have helped us with the times we’re in now,” Rosati said. “We’re known as a trusted company by our clients, and we’ve saved a nest egg for times like this. You’ve got to have a reserve and have that for emergencies.”
Rosati Windows is a local manufacturer of windows and doors. The business opened in April 2000 with two employees in a 6,000-square-foot building. Today, Rosati Windows employs 168 people and operates out of a 60,000-square-foot building on Roberts Road in northwest Columbus.
Rosati grew up surrounded by entrepreneurs — his grandparents owned grocery stores and his parents were in the real estate business, he said.
“I’d been in the home-improvement business for about 30 years when I decided it was time to go off on my own,” Rosati said. “There’s a whole different focus when you’re a small business in a city. You’ve got to be a lot more on your game. You’ve got to be very concerned with customer service and the quality of your products.
And you have to be willing to give back to the community and take on issues to help out any way you can.”
The company lists its 10 principles on its website and marketing materials. All revolve around putting the customer first.
“Those principles were developed over years of being in customer service,” Rosati said. “These are things I believe in and want to instill in my employees. There’s no question that’s been very successful and we all understand the customer is the most important thing we deal with every day.”
Taking care of the customers hasn’t been Rosati’s only key to success, however; he said he believes in taking care of his employees, too.
“Taking care of my customers and my employees — that’s about as simple as I can get,” Rosati said. “We have very little turnover and have people that have been here for a long time, which is very uncommon in the home-improvement industry. It makes me feel good.”
Even in a challenging economic climate, Rosati Windows continues to add new product lines.
“We’ve kept a close eye on our expenses and our debt load, which I think is very important to surviving the next couple of years,” Rosati said. “We brought in a couple of new product lines over the past two years, so in 2012, we’ll be looking to maintain those and hopefully, the economy will get back to normal by 2013.”