Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue I, 2012 | Page 14

MEGA

ily business into Panera Bread—and how.
Today, Covelli Enterprises owns 198
Panera Bread locations, with 20 under
construction, making it Panera’s single
largest franchisee and the fifth-largest
restaurant franchisee in the country.
Talk about a “mega franchisee”: Covelli Enterprises has 20,000 employees,
is looking at more than $400 million
in revenue for 2011, and has won multiple awards for restaurant operations
and community service. As if that’s not
enough, the company has an agreement
to develop 50 O’Charley’s restaurants.
Keeping the operations on track—and
driving further growth—puts Covelli on

the road every week. He enjoys visiting
his company’s many stores more than
he’d like to play golf—and he used to be
a pretty good golfer. “Honestly, I never
truly feel like I go to work,” he says. “I
get out of bed and can’t wait to get in
my car to go to some of my restaurants.”
One thing Covelli enjoys about visiting
the stores is seeing employees grow with
the company. He likes giving workers
the chance to build a career by working
their way up. “We have someone who was
an assistant manager 15 years ago, and
now he’s head of operations for two of
our markets,” says Covelli. “I love to see
people growing like that from within.”

PERSONAL
Key accomplishments: Started with my father in McDonald’s.
Biggest mistake: You learn a lot from mistakes. Not everything is going to
work 100 percent. You learn from things you might do, from things you might
not have done. You hope you have more winners than failures. Sometimes I’ve
wanted to purchase a market, and, when I got into it, wished I’d purchased
it five years earlier. Fortunately it worked out: I bought that market, and it
worked out well.
Smartest mistake: It’s kind of trial and error more than mistakes. With a
couple of sites, I’ve taken chances. I worried about them, and then they turned
out to be some of our best sites. Usually we get a pretty good feel what a store
will do when we open. With a couple, I wasn’t sure. I thought they could be
below-average stores. I was nervous about that. Then they turned out to be
great.
How do you spend a typical day? I do a lot of traveling. I’ve always
enjoyed opening stores, going around to all our stores, and getting to know
our customers. On the road, I’m up at 5 or 5:30 working out, then out in the
stores. I try to be in the office when I have to be.
Work week: Certain days I have to be in the offi ce to sign papers. Every
Monday we have meetings. The main thing is to try to get everybody thinking
in the same way. And I like to hear ideas from people. In our company, we
share ideas, we talk about them, and then we enforce them. I want everybody
to agree. They buy into the program and they’ll follow up on things.
Favorite fun activities: Watching football. I’m an Ohio State fan. We just
opened the biggest Panera in the U.S. right across the street from the stadium.
Exercise/workout: I do a lot of miles, and I also do a lot of weights. At
my house, I have some neat weight machines. I use an elliptical, a treadmill. I
do a little of everything on the road, use whatever the hotel has.
Favorite tech toys: My iPad and new iPhone. I love the iPad. I use it to

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Multi-Unit Franchisee Is s ue I, 2012

look at the numbers on all our stores, our labor projections, the whole picture of
the business every day. I even have cameras on the iPad to look at stores.
What are you reading? I love reading about successful people. I like
reading about things politicians have done. I’m always interested in reading different marketing books. Then daily, all the different papers, Wall Street Journal,
USA Today.
Do you have a favorite quote/advice? One thing I’ve always believed
and always say is this: I never take a customer for granted. I’ll treat every customer like it’s my last customer. No matter what they order, whether it’s just a
drink or a $100 order, we can’t do enough for a customer. That’s always been
our philosophy. With employees I’ll also say, “Don’t tell me what you can’t do,
tell me what you can do.” I like to look at the positive side of things. There are
never any shortcuts if you want to be successful.
Best advice you ever got: One big thing my father always preached to
me, and we preach now, is giving back to the community. If we don’t give
back to the community who will? We think it’s part of our responsibility. We
probably raise more money for charity than most companies do, but that’s the
way we are.
Formative influences/events: Our growth always amazes me. Years
ago we got an award for best operations in McDonald’s. It was impressive for
our people, more than just for me. We’ve been honored with many awards
now, and I like for our people to be there, because it’s such an exciting feeling
for our whole organization.
How do you balance life and work? It’s about balancing your time.
Your family comes first, and business comes second. Because I do a lot of
traveling, I have to manage my calendar. I’m still there for all my daughter’s
volleyball games. I used to coach Little League. I’m always there for any event
they have.