Snow City Cafe: this popular breakfast/lunch place has loyal customers who don't mind a long wait to be seated.

• Author: Friedenauer, Margaret
• Position: 2006 Top Women-Owned Businesses

When a business does better than its visionary expected, it could have surprising and exhausting results.

That's what managing member Laile Fairbairn has learned during the last eight years as managing partner of Snow City Cafe in downtown Anchorage.

"It's always challenging ... we always face double-digit growth," Fairbairn said. "I have to remind myself that this is good."

The cafe began as the brainchild of Fairbairn in 1995 after she moved to Anchorage from Seattle. She had worked in advertising but said she felt there was niche in the city for an urban, funky breakfast place.

A Food Connoisseur

"I love to eat out, I love breakfast," she said. "So I thought 'How hard could it be?'"

Fairbairn is the largest investor and the manager of the cafe that has the support of several investors and last year had revenue between $1 million and $2.5 million.

The cafe remains at its original location on Fourth Avenue, but has undergone two expansions since it opened in 1998. The recent expansion prompted Fairbairn to revisit the mission statement to make sure the changes haven't diluted the founding philosophy of the restaurant.

"When I revisit our mission statement, we have vegetarian options, we're a community gathering place, we really value our employees, so I think we're really close to what our initial vision was," she said. "I think offering vegetarian options and offering people a place to be healthy or to pig out, I think we've done that," she said. "We try to keep that hipness as much as possible."

Fairbairn admits some concessions have been made to accommodate the growth over the years. For example, the cafe originally served sliced red potatoes. Now, Fairbairn said, she's had to switch to frozen hash browns to accommodate the volume of food the cafe serves. But aside from some small compromises, Fairbairn said she thinks the core value of the business remains, even with the growth.

The success isn't as much of a surprise as the growth, Fairbairn said. She's had to learn to be vigilant about tapping into the energy it takes to keep the momentum.

"I always thought it would be popular," she said. "It's a lot more successful than I ever thought it would be but I was shooting pretty high. I thought Anchorage needed someplace like this so I wasn't shocked."

The Waiting Game

While the recent expansion was taxing, she said her loyal customer base has been supportive throughout the changes. She estimated 70 percent of her customers are regulars, a...