The Cereal Bowl was supposed to ring in the New Year ringing up sales.
Instead, the upstart cafe that plans to sell almost three dozen varieties of breakfast cereal in a laid-back atmosphere has seen nearly as many obstacles make mush of its opening plans.
``We had to deal with three hurricanes, building and zoning, Coral Gables and everything,'' said Kenneth Rader, 24, one of three partners in the venture. ``It's still frustrating, because we told everybody [we'd be opening in] November, then December.''
Now the Bowl plans to open January 21. The partners have applied for a one-day permit to inaugurate the store at 1560 S. Dixie Highway in Riviera Plaza.
Since October, The Miami Herald has been following the entrepreneurs as they try to turn their quirky idea into a thriving business. But the publicity has brought the challenge of managing people's expectations, said partner and General Manager Michael Glassman.
``Businessmen understand the delays,'' he said, as he spent his 25th birthday supervising construction. ``But people who don't have a business don't understand. They are excited about it - and we're excited about it - and if it gets pushed back for any reason they're like `Why?' ''
Underestimating the time needed to get a business off the ground isn't uncommon, said Nancy Orozco, the Miami-Dade county manager of the Small Business Development Center, which helped train more than 300 startups in 2005.
The most common mistake entrepreneurs make is to lease a location before ascertaining they can get the needed permits and licenses for the site, she said.
``When someone tells me about delays it's because they didn't pass inspection and didn't know what they would face in order to be able to open the business to the public,'' she said. ``It's always the same story.''
The SBDC advises prospective business owners - even those with home-based companies - to figure out their licensing needs before they commit to a location.
The Cereal Bowl has had its share of permitting snafus. The street-front sign, which was supposed to be up months ago, was finally installed the day before Christmas, mainly due to squabbles over permits. When the partners lost access to a bathroom in the shopping center and had to build their own, it also added time and permits to the process.
WEDDING PLANS
But the Bowl also has one excellent reason to push back its opening: Kenneth's twin brother and the Bowl's third partner, Josh Rader, is getting married in January.
Kenneth is his best man and Glassman is a groomsman, and they wanted to focus on the wedding before the Bowl's grand opening. ``I told [Josh] he should just delay the wedding,'' jokes Glassman.
``His fiancé wouldn't have any of that,'' chimes in Kenneth.
Josh - an accountant and the only partner with a full-time job - said between studying for his CPA and planning for the wedding he is putting in about 30 hours a week on the Cereal Bowl.
``I work all night and all weekend on the Cereal Bowl,'' he said. ``When I get home from [my accounting job] I'll have dinner then I'm either on the computer or on the phone with Kenny and Mike.''
Despite the delays, the trio said their personal finances are healthy enough to keep them afloat.
``I don't really go out as much as I used to,'' said Glassman. ``Kenny and I both budgeted and expected some delay.''
TAKING SHAPE
By the looks of it, The Cereal Bowl seems to be a long way off from a mid-
January opening. Naked drywall stands in the place where couches and a sales counter will eventually be; barren columns spilling entrails of wire are the only hint the bowl will feature plasma TVs running CNN and cartoons for cereal-munching clients.
But the contractors are expected to put the finishing touches on the place in early January, and the trio hope to give the store a trial run just a few days after Josh's wedding.
And beyond the construction, the project is gaining speed. Glassman has hired 15 employees and put them through the first round of training.
They're also putting the finishing touches on the menu. After reading about The Cereal Bowl online, the Kingdom of Bhutan's Ministry of Agriculture shipped a box with a sampling of 10 traditional grains in hopes they would find a spot on the roster. But taste tests found the products too chewy and plain, the partners said.
And when two new employees questioned the lack of Kix on the menu, they took notice.
``The reason we weren't carrying it is that we felt it was the same as [Corn Pops],'' said Glassman. ``But they said it's different, definitely different. So we tried it out and they were right.''
CEREAL STORY
This is the third installment in a year-long series that follows the first year in the life of a start-up business, The Cereal Bowl, whose main atttraction will be cereal - almost three dozen varieties of flakes and pops. Look for the next report in January.
