Carlos O'Brien was biking home after finishing his shift as morning manager at The Cereal Bowl when he swerved off the road to avoid oncoming traffic. When he emerged from the bushes, rattled, there was a finger-long branch stuck deep in his left arm.
That night, Cereal Bowl Vice President Michael Glassman visited him at the hospital, told him to take time off and said he was instantly being promoted to ``branch manager.''
Without company health insurance, there was little more he could do.
The Miami Herald has been following the three entrepreneurs behind The Cereal Bowl - Glassman and twin brothers Josh and Kenneth Rader, all 25 - since October when they were first struggling to get permits to launch the business.
Since opening the café on 1560 S. Dixie Hwy. in February, they've turned their idea of giving customers the chance to mix and match more than 30 different kinds of breakfast cereals with a dizzying array of toppings, into a thriving venture.
Six months after opening their doors, they are just shy of turning a profit, and like the owners of many small businesses, they thought that health insurance seemed like a luxury they couldn't afford.
But a recent spate of health issues has them reconsidering. Along with O'Brien's spill, Glassman recently had two root canals - also without insurance.
``Each root canal cost me more than a grand,'' said Glassman. ``That was my vacation money, but I try not think about it.''
Josh has insurance through the accounting company he works for (he's the only one of the three partners to hold a job outside The Cereal Bowl). Kenneth's personal coverage is running out in January.
``We want to have company health insurance for me and Mike and our managers and maybe even our part-time employees,'' said Kenneth. ``It's definitely going to be expensive, but it's the right thing to do.''
While they haven't even started shopping around yet, Josh said they are hoping to find a small group plan by January: ``My guess is it's going to cost us between $4,000 and $5,000 for the year - hopefully?''
Health issues aside, the trio are still tweaking the store and coming up with ways to try to lure in the crowds during the summer doldrums. When the University of Miami was in regular session, they often saw 400 customers a day. Now, on good weekends, they see about 350.
One tactic that has been working well is staging weekend concerts. Glassman has turned into something of a talent scout, holding casting calls for demos and booking bands.
The secret, he says, is finding musicians with a strong local following that can turn into potential customers.
A few weekends ago, the rock act Subject to Change brought in more than 100 people.
``The bands bring a lot of new faces into the store,'' says Glassman. And the music keeps people longer and drives up repeat sales. ``We always add $100 or $200 every time we have a band here,'' he says.
To drive up daytime crowds, The Cereal Bowl is also still marketing itself as a summer camp destination. On a recent Tuesday afternoon (not exactly rush hour) The Bowl had about 80 kids - from third to eighth grade - sitting on the floor in the back of the restaurant, happily chomping cereal.
The secret to hosting kids without scaring away regulars is to have the children fill out their orders while they are still on the bus, says Glassman. Then the counselors can march them directly to the back of the store before they cluster around the colorful, cereal-and-candy-filled counter.
``If you and your wife came in and saw 100 critters running around, you'd probably say we'll come to The Cereal Bowl another day,'' explains Glassman. ``This way we keep them all in the back and it works very well.''
Glassman's crowd control and organization techniques have helped halve the time it takes from when an order is placed until when a customer sits down. Small things - like washing and chopping the fresh fruit toppings before the store opens or coaching the staff to recognize customers who become paralyzed by so many options - have helped speed the process.
STEADY INVENTORY
Also gone are the inventory shortages that cropped up in the early days.
``Mike has the store running so smoothly,'' said Josh. ``Very rarely do we have to make an emergency trip to Publix anymore.''
Glassman's procedures - from where the food is stored to how tasks are divided - are not only important for this store, but also will be a key component of the franchise manual they are starting to work on.
When The Miami Herald first interviewed the trio in October, they said they were wary of taking on new investors or partners, for fear of losing control of their vision.
But as they start seriously looking at franchising, the idea of bringing in an older and more experienced business partner, who might share a stake in the company, makes sense, said Josh.
POSITIVE PRESS
One factor that has The Cereal Bowl dreaming big so fast is the barrage of positive press they've received.
Last month the trio made the pages of Time Magazine in an article about how they - and their Chicago-based competitors Cereality - are spearheading a national cereal craze. Shortly afterward they received an interview request from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
And on Wednesday night - Josh and Kenneth's 25th birthday - The Cereal Bowl was featured on Anderson Cooper's 360 on CNN.
``Kenny was awake all night [on vacation] in Orlando watching a wave of e-mails come in that started on the East Coast and spread West,'' said Josh. ``It was a very nice birthday present.''
Within 18 hours, they received more than 75 franchise requests. And as this article went to press, more were coming in. ``We really want to capitalize on what we have right now,'' said Josh. ``What we don't want to do is sit on it and see it fade away.''
