In Case You Missed It: Frozen Potato Scraps and the American Dream

In 1954, F. Nephi Grigg and his brother Golden drove nearly 3,000 miles from their family's frozen-potato plant in Oregon to Miami's Fontainbleu Hotel with 15 pounds of product and a plan. The product was Tater Tots - frozen, fryable potato bites - and the plan was to crash the annual National Potato Convention. The Grigg brothers bribed and bargained with the chef to serve their new invention at the event and, judging from school lunches everywhere, it went pretty well.

In the past week we've featured stories of small-business entrepreneurs who brought their ideas and offerings to exactly the right people at exactly the right time - not by accident but by design. Here they are, just in case you missed it.

Michael Gratz’s Prairie Fire BBQ Serves Up American Eats to Londoners
"Back in 2012 street food was just starting to become a phenomenon in London, so I saw this as a low-cost gateway to start a small food business."

Business of Love: Rachel Bowes’ Seattle Event Planning Business is Blooming
"I’d worked for the Seattle Symphony before, and they hired me on a contract basis to do all the event flowers....I look back on those days, and I can’t believe how little I charged! But I had to start somewhere."

BACKING YOU: Jeremy Malman Builds Vintage Bikes – and Kids’ Self-Esteem
"I found a business partner. I guess I wanted another person to legitimize my idea....This friend was a motorcycle guy. I wasn't."

Nikki Bell Provides a Clean Start at her Domestic Divas Housekeeping Business
"Domestic Divas took off from the very beginning, as our clients began referring their friends to us right away. The house-cleaning industry thrives above all else on word of mouth and the quality of work."

BACKING YOU: Gopi Shah Creates Gorgeous Ceramics and Community Connections
"Jennifer, along with her husband, was super supportive and taught me so much about becoming a professional ceramicist. I went into the apprenticeship asking questions and absorbing as much as I could."

Lucy & Nadia Took their Passion for Paper and Opened Luna Stationery
"We sat next to each other at work for ten years, and for ten years, we went mad for stationery and design -- notebooks, business cards, neon pens, paper samples. We were kindred spirits in that way. We started talking about what our dream stationery shop would look like and we decided, 'Let's do it! Let's create it!'"

How do you get yourself out in front of the right people at the right time to move your business forward?