You're striving towards profitability and a positive cash flow. But what happens once you've reached that goal? Do you sit back and enjoy what you believe are the deserved rewards of your entrepreneurial efforts?

But what happens when you hit some lean years? No business will never be exempt from this, so you need to make provision by:

• planning for the lean years, and
• converting some of your cash into assets that will give you an income.

The trick is to build a portfolio that will offer you a passive income. Passive in the sense that you don't have to do anything - it literally earns money while you're sleeping, irrespective of what happens to your business.

Doing this will

• give you alternatives for your retirement
• give you an alternative income for when it suits you
• put you in a better position when you negotiate the selling price of your business, and
• allow you to pass on your business to your children without putting unnecessary financial pressure on them or yourself.

This, in short, is what you work for as an entrepreneur - financial independence.

How do you reach this blissful state of affairs? You act now - and get in touch with an accredited Sanlam Cobalt financial intermediary for help with step one: creating self-sustaining assets for a later income. Don't delay.