Ernie - An Entrepreneur

Ernie - An Entrepreneur !

An Inspirational Tale by Robert Smith.

This is the tale of Ernie, a self-made man from humble beginnings and
how he became rich and successful. He started with nothing and in his
prime he was worth a cool million ?'s. Ernie wasn't always rich, or
cool. He came from a large, poor family. He didn't do that well at
school. He lived in the poor part of Humbletown. His mother worked very
hard to provide for her family. She had three jobs. She is the real
hero of this story, not Ernie. Ernie had to wear old clothes bought
from jumble sales. The clothes weren't the latest fashion, nor were
they brand names - but Ernie didn't care ! The cool kids at school all
laughed at Ernie, but he didn't care ! He tried his best and worked
hard. The cool kids said he was a loner. They thought he was slow but
he was just different. He saw and understood things that they didn't.
He was always dreaming and scheming about his future. He wanted to make
his mark in the world. Ernie loved books and telling stories. He
listened and he learned.

Ernie had a good pair of hands and wasn't afraid of hard work. He
worked long hours to help his mother. The cool kids still laughed at
him. They said he was always in a hurry. Like his mother, he had more
than one job. He dug people's gardens, cut their grass and then rushed
home to do his paper round. People liked Ernie because he worked hard
and was honest. He did a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. He
always had a smile. In his spare time Ernie read lots of books. Ernie
had to leave school early when his mother became ill. He worked and
saved his money. When he had enough, he took a risk and became his own
boss. He bought an old van, got a mobile phone and never looked back.
No job was too big or small for Ernie and he was very busy. He called
his business Dreamscape Garden Services. After all, it had started with
a dream !

Ernie continued to work hard and dreamed of starting another business.
He borrowed a suit from his twin brother Gordie and went to see the
Bank Manager. Ernie borrowed money from the Bank and opened Ernie's
Garden Emporium. Another dream come true. He had to work even harder,
but he didn't care. He was soon able to buy his own suits. Ernie liked
nice clothes because he never had any before. Ernie made so much money
that he opened a factory and called it Ernie's Enterprises. He had the
last laugh because the cool kids had to come and work for him. He
didn't really laugh at them, he was too ethical for that ! Ernie just
made them work as hard as him. THEY had to set THEIR alarm clocks for 5
am, just like Ernie ! The cool Kids worked so hard that Ernie made even
more money. He built a big house in the countryside for his mother. He
bought himself an even bigger car. Ernie wasn't selfish, he became a
philanthropist and donated widely to charities and opened a Library and
called it 'The Ernie Institute'. All the children could now read and
dream, like he had. Ernie knows that education is the key to success
!

One day Ernie read the Humbletown Chronicle and boy did he get a
surprise ! There in the paper was a photograph of his twin brother
Gordie !

Humbletown Chronicle - Special Report

Is Humbletown's Premier Entrepreneur Ernie too good to be true? We have
uncovered evidence that Ernie's twin brother Gordie is a Gangster and
has just been released from jail.

Gordie left Humbletown aged only sixteen. He too had been in a hurry to
make money. Gordie fell in with a bad crowd. Unlike Ernie, he took the
wrong path in life. The cool kids laughed at Ernie again because the
good people of the town turned their backs on him. They thought he was
bad like Gordie and ignored him. Ernie's business failed and the Bank
asked for its money back. To keep his house, Ernie had to sell the
Emporium, his factory, his cars and his suits but he didn't care ! At
least his precious gift to Humbletown - The Ernie Institute - remained.
Clothes and cars weren't important to Ernie. He went back to doing what
he did best, working hard. Ernie still dreams his dreams. He is lucky
because he has achieved something more precious than mere possessions.
The children of Humbletown ALL look up to him. They respect him because
he set them a good example. They love Ernie's inspirational
story.

Ernie started with two empty hands and so could YOU !

Glossary.

Entrepreneur - A man or woman who undertakes a business enterprise,
especially one that involves risk. Entrepreneurs are also known as
"Self-Made" because they have become successful by their own hard
work.

Ethical - Relating to moral rules of behaviour. Ethical people do not
do anything that would harm someone
else. Not all entrepreneurs are ethical.

Philanthropist - A man or woman who tries to benefit others by doing
good. Some famous entrepreneurs have donated large sums of money to
benefit ordinary people.

Gangster - A Gangster is a man or a woman who is a very dangerous type
of Criminal. They use violence and threats of violence to get
rich.

NB - This story was originally written with illustrations by Lauren
Smith.