This summer, several members of the Class of 2013 have attempted entrepreneurial endeavors by setting up and expanding student-run businesses.
Lone Pine Laundry, headed by Gardner Davis '13, Ryan Ganong '13, Duncan Hall '13, Sam Seehof '13 and Ben Spero '13, provides same-day laundry services as an alternative to the College-operated service. The business was founded in the Spring of 2011, and has continued to provide its services throughout the summer.
"All of us have worked before, but none of us had ever started our own business from scratch," Ganong said. "The five of us saw a need on campus that we believed could be filled. It was an exciting challenge for all of us to create this new company and decide how to run it."
The group picks up customers' laundry bags on Monday mornings and then drops the bags off at a laundromat, Ganong said. Later in the afternoon, it returns to pick up the clean, folded clothes and drop them back off in front of customers' doors.
"We usually share responsibilities and work as a team," Ganong said. "If we have a lot to get done in a short amount of time, we will divide up the jobs, but mostly we work collectively."
The group is currently in the process of expanding and reaching out to more students in preparation for the upcoming school year, according to Ganong.
Ganong said that while the College offers similar services through E&R Cleaners, Lone Pine Laundry provides business that caters more to students' needs.
"Our customers get their clothes back the same day, whereas E&R customers have to wait two or three days," Ganong said.
Fall 2011 will also give rise to the new student-run Rockefeller Beds. The organization, run by Kevin Cox '13, Chris De Souza '13, Christian Fisch '13, Ian Martin-Katz '13, Alex Murphy '13, Shea Smith '13, R.C. Willenbrock '13 and Chris Zhao '13, aims to deliver new, full-sized beds to students.
"This spring, we were in our dorm room complaining about how we're big guys and don't fit in small Dartmouth beds," Cox said. "We thought about how most Dartmouth dorm rooms can accommodate full-size beds, so we decided to look into starting a full-size bed rental company."
Customers may place an order through the company's website. After contacting the customer with a delivery date, the group will come to the student's room and disassemble and store the Dartmouth bed. The group will then deliver and assemble the new bed in the student's dorm. If students have issues with the bed during the term, the organization will send out technicians to fix them.
Everyone in the group plays an equal role in fulfilling these duties, Cox said.
"No individual member has a specific role, but when an issue arises, people will take responsibility for doing something," Cox said. "We are constantly in contact via blitz so that if something needs to be addressed, one of the eight of us is on it."
Davis, Seehof and Spero are members of The Dartmouth Business Staff.
