It’s 1998 and I’m standing in the cereal aisle of a Kroger somewhere outside of Detroit. My band has been on tour on and off for months promoting our new album. We’d been driving day upon day, doing radio interviews in the afternoon, and playing shows late into the night – all to try to sell some CDs. It was an adventure. It was fun and artistically rewarding to play music and connect with people who enjoyed the music we were making. But when it came right down to it, the reason that a record label had paid for us to record in a big studio, the reason that they’d bought us a van and paid for a tour manager was because they wanted us to sell a lot of CDs.

At the time, CDs sold for about $12. We would stand at a table and sell them at our shows. We did in-store performances at record stores. We did radio interviews. We met with distributors and promoters and everyone along the chain – hopefully inspiring, connecting, and setting up the eventual perfect alignment of stars and planets for someone to be inspired to buy just one copy of our CD.

It was a lot of work. We weren’t a mass market band. We were an indie-rock band trying to make new and interesting music.

So here I am standing in the cereal aisle trying to find some food to bring back to the hotel room. I’ve got a box of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes in my hand and I’m looking at cereal boxes as far as the eye can see. Then the realization hits me. I have a vision of millions upon millions of boxes of Corn Flakes being sold all across the world. People eat this simple cereal every morning. Every two weeks, they buy another box. A box of Corn Flakes costs maybe $4. But a person could spend $100 a year on Corn Flakes… and thousands of dollars over their lifetime. The market isn’t targeted at outcast art kids misunderstood by society. It’s every house on every street in every country in the world. And Kellogg’s can crank boxes out as fast as we can eat them.

Compare that to all of the work that my band had done trying to sell one CD to one person… once. $12 and it’s over. Time to make another album. The comparison seems silly, I know. Both music and cereal are built on brand, habit, and even personal identity. But Corn Flakes is a mass market consumable. It’s different from its very conception.

But as I’ve found myself collaborating with coaching clients conceiving of products, services, and new lines of business, I’m often reminded of that moment standing in the cereal aisle. How could your business be more like Corn Flakes? How can you widen its appeal? What would take you to more homes in more countries? What would keep people coming back to buy more week after week, month after month? Is there a way your product can become a habit? How can you keep it simple and replicable?

I didn’t go home from that tour and change careers right away. I still appreciate the passion and art of creating music. I like inventing. I like connecting with people. I like getting inspired and hopefully, inspiring others. But maybe there’s a good balance somewhere between what feels good and what can be popular. Because if your business doesn’t stay in business, it’s not a business at all.

Jeff Robbins is a business coach, mentor, and virtual business partner who works one-on-one with company owners and leaders to help them build vision and direction for their companies while building productivity, stability, and happiness for their employees and themselves. You can work with him too. Reach out to set up a free session.

The Corn Flakes Realization