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.

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