The Complete Book of Business Plans: Simple Steps to Writing Powerful Business Plans

About the Author

Joe Covello is the founder of The Covello Group, a professional firm specializing in business planning and finance located in Clearwater, Florida and serving the greater Tampa Bay area. His firm services small- and medium-size clients in various industries including manufacturing, distribution, service, and retail.

Joe holds a Masters of Business Administration Degree in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University and he has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Accounting from William Paterson University. He has co-authored two books, Your First Business Plan and The Complete Book of Business Plans. In addition he has written several notable papers on business related subjects.

He has a been a radio talk show co-host with Brian Hazelgren on the number one station in the Phoenix, AZ market. The show was called "All About Business" and the focus topics were geared toward assisting business owners and managers in creating business efficiencies in management, sales, marketing, production, and finance.

In addition, Joe served as an adjunct faculty member for the State of Arizona Community College District were he taught classes in sales, marketing, management, human relations, and business planning. He was instrumental in creating, developing, and presenting the course on business planning to the College District Board where it was approved and implemented as an official course to be used throughout the College District.

Over his twenty-four year career, he has been hired into several key management positions for the primary purpose to spearhead business start-ups, turnarounds, and expansions. During his tenure, each business enterprise achieved higher sales levels, increased employee moral and productivity, and a more profitable bottom line.

Brian Hazelgren founded goStrategy to focus on all aspects of strategic consulting for small and medium enterprises. Brian has a degree in marketing from Western International University, with a minor in finance. Brian has authored and coauthored five books, including Your First Business Plan and The Complete Book of Business Plans, and has produced two business CDs. His latest work, Power Planning: The New Era in Strategic Thinking is the manual used in the goStrategy strategic planning courses. Brian is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Utah where he is one of four professors chosen to start the new Entrepreneurship program at the University. He is also a frequent guest on radio talk shows throughout the country. He has 17 years in the business/strategic planning and technology fields.

Brian has been a radio talk show host on the No. 1 station in the Phoenix, AZ market. His show was called "All About Business" and he focused on topics geared towards assisting business owners and managers in running a better organization.

Brian has owned and operated a successful manufacturing and distribution company, which produced the popular Gumball Wizard and Gumball Mania vending machines. His products were frequently featured on The Price is Right, as the number one product in the Sharper Image Catalog and in three Hollywood movies (Richie Rich, First Kid and Monolith).

Brian spent four years with Sprint Paranet, a division of Sprint, as a Regional Director. While at Sprint, Brian received several awards, including the first ever Outstanding Achievement Award, the Division Managers Award, the Marketing Aptitude Award, the 120% of Goal Award, Para 100 and the Fast Start Award. As a start-up under Brian's leadership, Sprint Paranet Utah was awarded the No. 1 IT Consulting Firm Award in the State of Utah. This was accomplished after only 2 years in the Intermountain market.

During the early phases of the Internet, Brian started a Phoenix, AZ based ISP that was soon voted the No. 3 ISP in the state of Arizona. He sold his interests in this business.

Brian was a member of the BYU national championship football team in 1984. He was a sprinter in track and field and has held five records in track and field in the state of Utah. He was drafted to play professional baseball out of high school, but chose to play football.

Brian is the father of six children, with two sets of twins. He and his lovely wife of 15 years, Ann Christensen Hazelgren, live in Riverton, Utah.