In over two decades of working in the product development industry for firms such as Sunbeam and GE, Michael Docherty has seen many ideas fly and flop.
Now the CEO of Venture2, a Delray Beach venture firm that specializes in bringing innovative durable goods to market, Docherty said the difference between a winning product and a failing one often has as much to do with flexibility as it does with the strength of the idea.
Rarely are businesses a hit the first time out, he said. ``Smart entrepreneurs will launch [a product] in a small controlled way, learn from what's happening, adapt the business model or product, and then relaunch,'' he said.
The multimillion seller George Foreman grill, for instance, went through extensive marketing tweaking. At first, when it was promoted solely for its healthy cooking benefits, it didn't quite catch fire. ``It wasn't until about their third reiteration of their infomercials that they finally hit upon the formula, which was convenience,'' he said. ``They were evolving as they went.''
So The Cereal Bowl partners' willingness to study their market and give customers what they want is a good sign.
Not too far from The Cereal Bowl location another budding entrepreneur, Fernando Pulido, is also evolving a business.
Pulido is the owner of Sun Juice Smoothies, a takeout location at 1405 Sunset Dr. that specializes in fruit shakes.
Now working on his MBA in Pennsylvania, Pulido said he plans to take his Sun Juice concept to other locations as soon as he perfects the model.
``I want to create a place where you can get a meal, get a snack that will be healthy but indulgent at the same time,'' he said. ``Once we get that down, we are definitely looking to expand. . . . That's the reason I'm getting my MBA.''
As it turns out, one of the items on Pulido's menu is - cereal. Pulido started offering about 30 varieties of cereal along with toppings last summer after seeing a cereal bar in Tampa and then the chain Cereality in Pennsylvania.
``I thought it would be a pretty interesting complement to what we do,'' he said.
While Sun Juice's cereal is prominently displayed, the store's main attractions are its smoothies. And, quite frankly, he says, the cereal hasn't caught on as well as he expected. Where he does see growing demand is for smoothies with cereal in them. And, as far as he's concerned, that fits in better with his master plan.
``We want to make sure that we stay a smoothie bar,'' he said. ``That's where our expertise lies, and that's what we're known for.''
