At Work with Rowan & Associates
Libby Barsky
August 1, 2008
Name: Rowan & Associates
Type of business:
A promotional product online boutique for corporate giveaways
Address: 1325 Crescent Blvd., Suite A,
Telephone: (856) 742-7400 or
(888)-Ideas 4U
Web site:
www.rowanassoc.com
Number of employees: 8
Founded: 1993
Top Officer:
Rose Rowan, CEO
How would you describe your business?
"We are a privately owned, full-service promotional and marketing boutique that represents some of the country's largest corporations including; Campbell Soup, Sunoco, ExxonMobil and Comcast," said CEO Rose Rowan.
"We work with our customers to promote their business, represent over 800 products and introduce new products including apparel, awards badges, bags, buttons, totes, calendars, coolers, cups, desk accessories, flashlights, games, gifts, hats, key chains, magnets, notebooks, pens, picture frames, plants, tools, toys, watches, and more."
What makes your business special?
"We take pride in our ability to listen to our clients needs and provide them with products, especially green items that will help them meet their business objectives. Sales of environmentally friendly items like 100-percent organic cotton T-shirts, baseball caps made from bamboo stalks, bags and totes made from soda bottles, have increased from 400 to 10,000 in the past year.
"We are leaders in technology and always have the latest technology. When something is new, like the green trend, we took a stand as an individual who's been involved with re-cycling for years and in one year went from 400 green items to 10,000. It reflects with our customers who have cutting edge promotions and foster social responsibility.
"We try to be socially responsible. We are involved with the community and do a lot of public service things; we are a member of the Board of Literacy Volunteers and other non-profits including McDonald House and
What goals do you have for the business?
"We are always in a growth mode and always want to grow. Our emphasis on green products is important to everyone. We want to grow with this green movement and be able to make an impact not only on our company, but on the world -- in the small way we can do it. It's one little step that can make a huge impact."
How has your business changed?
"Technology has changed our business. When we first started in 1993, we used to go out and make sales calls all the time. Now we are able to do things with email and through the Internet, where people can see what we offer right on their desktop with their logos on it. It saves us and the clients time. It's actually better now because the client can see their logo (enhanced by Internet graphics) on it and it's better than what we did before when we took a piece of paper and glued it onto the object.
"Also, we used to have filing cabinets after filing cabinet catalogs. And now they are called virtual catalogs and you can flip through the pages on your computer."
What was your most important deal?
"We have grown steadily year after year and we've had consistent growth. One company that we've worked with for 10 years and has been our biggest customer is The Odyssey of the Mind, earlier called The Olympics of the Mind. It's a group that's set up like the Olympics that is set up from local national and international and their largest event attracts 18,000 people. They've grown and so have we. They have a world's final at a large university and sell souvenirs and give the kids gifts."
What changes do you expect in your business in the next 10 years?
"I suspect that most of our business will be online and become more global. We have customers now in
What is the most important thing you've learned in your business?
"To make things easier for the customer. I also try to make systems easier for the staff that will make their life easier. I say 'we're easy to do business with,' perhaps in contrast with stores where it's impossible to get a person to give you an answer to a question or service. We are just focused on making it easier for the client."
What advice would you give to someone considering your line of work?
"Be ready to work a lot of hours. But that is with anyone who is working in retail or owns their own business. I think that they two most overrated sayings are 'own your own business and natural childbirth is easy'."
Is there anything else you would rather be doing?
"No. I love this business. I've been doing this for a long time. And the people I work with are wonderful people and our clients are wonderful. The staff is great and I like to be around them. When I worked for someone else, I didn't have time to do volunteer activities and now I am able to."