Commuters might not think ``coffee'' when they see the swirling green sign for The Cereal Bowl café that sits tucked away in the Riviera Plaza shopping center at 1560 S. Dixie Hwy.
After all, the three entrepreneurs behind the venture have been working 18-hour days for weeks trying to get the word out that the Bowl carries more than 30 different types of cereal and dozens of toppings for customers to mix and match at their whim.
But in the two months since the Bowl opened its doors, the men behind the venture - twin brothers Josh and Kenneth Rader, 24, and their childhood friend Michael Glassman, 25 - have become increasingly convinced that if they ever hope to fully tap into the river of cars that floats by their shop every morning, they have to promote the joe.
It's not that business is slumping. Volume has been increasing steadily to about about 200 and 250 clients on weekdays and 400 to 450 daily on the weekend. But they would welcome some new faces.
``We are seeing lots of repeat customers,'' said Kenneth, the company's president. ``We are getting the cereal crowd - that's the easy part because it's in our name - but we want to get more of the coffee crowd in. People just don't know to drink coffee at our location.''
The Miami Herald has been chronicling the Bowl's evolution since October, when the trio were wrestling with city permits and contractors to get the venture off the ground. Since opening their doors Feb. 4, they've scrambled to cater to the growing number of children showing up during the day, rather than the college kids they envisioned. Business Monday will continue reporting on the life of the fledgling business through its first year.
SEATTLE'S BEST DEAL
Coffee isn't an afterthought. The entrepreneur's knew java was going to be important from the get-go, and they worked hard to cut a deal with gourmet coffee maker Seattle's Best - although there's no sign outside their shop to promote the brand.
Despite excursions to neighboring office blocks with free samples of the brew, they haven't been seeing the kind of coffee crowd they'd like. (The fact that a Starbucks is just a mile away is certainly a hurdle.)
So they've decided to bring in professional help, in the form of Coral Gables-basedmarketing firm Kaboo Kaboo.
It wasn't an easy decision. From the interior design to the permitting, the trio have preferred doing things themselves. And PR seemed to be one area they had thoroughly covered: Before they opened, they were using Internet chatrooms and cereal-themed blogs to drive traffic to their website, and their press releases have generated a slew of coverage.
``It was a little bit of an issue,'' Kenneth said of the Kaboo Kaboo decision. ``Mike and Josh thought we were doing just fine with the in-house PR, but in the end we all decided we needed fresh ideas . . . Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.''
SURPRISE VISITS
A few hours before his first meeting with the Cereal Bowl trio, Ari Rollnick, founder and president of Kaboo Kaboo, said he was looking forward to talking to the men about their branding strategy and long-term goals. In coming days, members of his team will be scoping out the Bowl unannounced to get a feel for what the average consumer experience is like.
While it was too soon to talk strategy, he said it would ultimately ``combine both traditional and guerrilla marketing tactics.''
What The Cereal Bowl is looking for in the deal is simple: a 3 percent to 5 percent increase in morning commuter traffic.
``We're going to be targeting just one demographic for right now,'' said Kenneth. ``. . . So it should be pretty clear if it's working.''
Marketing - and particularly market research - is an area often overlooked when start-ups are putting together business plans, said Jack Hardy, the former marketing director for the Western Hemisphere for Colgate-Palmolive, and a small business counselor with the nonprofit group SCORE.
``Most people think they will [get marketing funds] out of their income and don't set aside sufficient money for marketing and research,'' he said. ``It's a very common error.''
The Cereal Bowl had indeed set aside $2,500 in their start-up budget for advertising and an additional $1,200 for marketing and promotion the first year. That initial $2,500 went toward revamping the company's website, and while the owners don't want to disclose terms, the current deal with Kaboo Kaboo more than blows the rest of the marketing budget.
But Kenneth said that by keeping the agency on a monthly retainer - rather than paying per project - should help keep costs down and the Bowl on track.
AIMING TO FRANCHISE
The trio have ambitions to eventually franchise and expand the company. So Kenneth was intrigued when he received an interview request from the producers of Mancow, a Chicago-based shock-jock with a national following.
Last Thursday night, Kenneth was mulling whether it was worth going on a show, where the host is renowned for ridiculing guests. It was an option he planned to discuss with his newly hired marketing firm.
``I don't want to pass up an opportunity to get national exposure,'' he said. ``Of course, as long as we don't make ourselves look like idiots.''
