The founder of Raoul's Café talks about her big break

"When something works and it's successful and people like what you're doing, it encourages you to do more; to try and do better," says Geraldine Leventis, founder of Raoul's Café (in 1985) and Raoul's Express (in 1999) in London's Maida Vale. She says she knew she'd made a success of her business when "it got so crazy at the cafe, I didn't know if people were queuing for a table or for take-away food. So the ideal thing was to open a deli across the street. When the opportunity came to take on the property over the road, there was no question as to whether I was going to do it." Today, celebrities like Sienna Miller, Kate Moss and Paul McCartney frequent her establishments.

Leventis funded the expansion through a bank loan. She says she embraces change: "One thing I've always done is add new elements. I redecorate and revamp. No matter how successful you are, things can still collapse." And although bigger outfits than Raoul's are snapping at her heels—"Maida Vale is quite a foodie area now"—as an independent small business she knows how to differentiate herself. "I'm totally hands on in all my businesses. I'm pretty much here six days a week—I know all my customers. That's one thing the big guys haven't got—the personal touch," says Leventis.