"If they set their mind to doing something, they'll do it,'' she says. ``My husband and I have faith in them.''

After graduating from Miami Sunset High School, the three friends went their separate ways.

Kenneth left Syracuse went on to earn a business degree from Nova Southeastern University, while Glassman did the same at Florida Atlantic University.

Josh - who claims to be Kenneth's older brother by about a minute - eventually received a master's degree in accounting from Nova. He works at the Miami-based accounting firm BSS&S and plans to keep the job while moonlighting at The Cereal Bowl.

It's been a trying several months. While their peers are working nine-to-five jobs and starting promising careers, they've been slogging through 15- to 16-hour days, including weekends, trying to get a risky venture off the ground.

The fact that there is little in the space to show for the hours is a stark reminder of how much effort goes into getting a small business up and running.

For starters, there are as many lawyers involved as there are partners - an intellectual property rights attorney, a corporate tax lawyer and a real estate attorney. Although it has been painful forking over the $400 to $500 hourly fees, it's simply part of doing business and safeguarding the company, says Kenneth: "You either spend it now or spend it later.''

After getting their legal framework in order (they're structured as an LLC, which limits their personal liability and gives them more flexibility at tax time), they spent several months trying to find the perfect location to reach their target customers - college students. When a deal they were working on in Gainesville fell through, they eventually set their sites on the University of Miami, where Josh earned his bachelor's degree.

PERMIT HASSLES

Since taking possession of the space in August, they have been on the slow merry-go-round of permits with the county and the City of Coral Gables.

At one point the city mulled whether or not the "C'' in their store-front logo should be allowed to jut over the top of a green oval background. (It does.)

When they were suddenly told by the building's management in September that they would need to build their own bathrooms, it sparked another round of permits.

Then came Hurricane Katrina. Although the storm didn't damage the locale, Coral Gables temporarily barred contractors from walking plans through the permiting process - a strategy that usually expedites approvals.

``Dealing with [permits] has been a real challenge,'' says Kenneth.

Barring any problems, new restaurants can usually get all the required permits within about two months, city officials said. And retail and office permits tend to be faster. But the trio are expecting to get the final go-ahead this week, so there's light at the bottom of the bowl.

``Once we clear this [construction] hurdle, everything is going to take off,'' says Josh.

One of the reasons they can handle the stress of whiplash changes, mounting fees and cost overruns is because they made sure they could afford it.

Since November they've raised enough money from family and friends to cover most of the estimated $180,000 start-up costs. And on the strength of their business plan they secured a 10-year Small Business Administration-backed loan worth more than $100,000 to cover unexpected expenses.

GUTS AND PLANNING

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