Strategies: Lincoln has lots of advice for entrepreneurs

— -- Here's a trivia question: Who's the only U.S. president to receive a patent? Here's a hint: He was also a small business owner and one-time retailer. The answer: Abraham Lincoln.

This year we observe the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. We remember Lincoln as a great president, who helped save the nation and free the slaves. But a little known fact is that Lincoln was also one of us, and small business owners and entrepreneurs can find a kindred soul in Abraham Lincoln:

• He was self-made. He worked his way up from poverty, with less than one year of formal education.

• He was a retailer. He owned a small store, which quickly went out of business.

• He was an inventor. He received patent No. 6469 in 1849 for a device to lift riverboats over sand bars. It was never produced.

• He ran a law practice. He had to deal with his partner, clients, competitors, billings.

Moreover, Lincoln shared the same attitude toward failure that characterizes successful entrepreneurs — he wasn't daunted by it. In fact, Lincoln failed over and over again. In his first race for elected office, he came in eighth (out of 13 candidates) and failed repeatedly to get elected to the Senate.

So we who run small businesses or who are launching entrepreneurial ventures can look to some of the many insights from Abraham Lincoln for guidance:

On attitude:

• "Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing."

• "You cannot fail, if you resolutely determine that you will not."

• "People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

On sales:

• "When I am getting ready to reason with a man, I spend one-third of my time thinking about myself and what I am going to say and two-thirds about him and what he is going to say."

• "We must not promise what we ought not, lest we be called on to perform what we cannot."

On planning and time management: