In the New York Times Magazine: Garment Valet

WORK STUDY
What is entrepreneurship? One student’s answer: His thriving startup.

This week in Consumed, a look at a college student who built a business before he graduated — not by dreaming up a big idea, per se, but by executing.

It’s not a business plan; it’s a business, with 14 full-time employees and about $950,000 in revenue last year. Grim economy notwithstanding, Coryell says he believes the company will fare even better after he graduates next month.

Rooting for the abstract idea of the entrepreneur, whether a small-business owner or the hypothetical Next Bill Gates, is one of the great clichés of American politics and life. From consumers to politicians to whatever Joe the Plumber is supposed to be, everyone supports entrepreneurs. They’re pivotal figures who will get us out of this recession. Some observers suggest that the downturn is actually sparking entrepreneurship, as laid-off workers make a go of a variety of new small businesses. Funny then that, as Coryell notes, “the thing about entrepreneurship is that nobody knows what it is.”

Read the column in the April 12, 2009, issue of The New York Times Magazine, or here.

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