Grant Barra and his company Barra & Associates has a goal to provide people an improved life by offering them a wide range of vital products and services. He is a leading entrepreneur whose clear business vision helps his company to achieve a recognizable status in the industry. His ideas and negotiation skills made the company a real power in the industry.

1. Finance tips that
entrepreneurs should know
Grant
Barra

2. Grant Barra is an insurance
and finance executive. With a
bachelors of Science in
Business Administration
degree at DeVry University, he
is a managing partner at Barra
& Associates, an award
winning insurance and
financial services firm. He
started his career at a young
age, as an independent
agency owner at American
Family Insurance in Chicago,
Illinois. Barra is also a founding
member of GRASH
Development LLC.
Who is Grant Barra?

3. The importance of bank
statements
Identify the importance of, not only, your company’s bank statements but
your book invoices too. It is also good to know a little of accounting work,
some of it can be done through software programs today. Using this data
as usable information for your company, this statistics can help you know
how to grow profits even further if you know how to read them properly.
Through reconciling monthly statements and reviewing general ledger
accounts, entrepreneurs are able to make financial decisions about the
growth of their company and identify, particularly product lines that may
be non-profitable.

4. How to achieve your financial
goals
Are you having a professional to do balance and data
with you? You can also do it yourself, but don’t
procrastinate, it is much harder to organize the stack of
papers once a month than it is to spend a few minutes
each day entering details. When you procrastinate,
you’re hurting your short-term and long-term financial
goals.

5. Address the risks
Part of your financial strategy require to address the risks. Once that is
taken care of, you have the base of your financial plan. Do a budget to
actually know with what you are dealing with. For example, for your
retirement, you should include strategies to address risks from rising
health care and long-term care expenses, risks of market volatility that
can affect your retirement savings, risks of inflation that can reduce
your purchasing power, and the longevity risk of outliving your assets.

6. First, The budget
Some small to medium companies don’t have the time to
work on budget. It can be understood, but that doesn’t
make it alright. Budgeting is what addresses the risks, and
helps you to make better buying decisions. It also gives
you an idea of how much you need to your future
endeavors and what kind of investments you need to seek.
When you have all the information about your business, all
the tools in place to help you monitor inventory, expenses,
and other unforeseen costs, you can create better budgets
that allow you to do more with your profits.

7. Look for a professional to do
your taxes
The worst and most complicated taxes are the
ones from small to medium businesses. Without
having a profession to monitor and conduct your
taxes during the whole year, your business can
suffer considerably. They can be inevitable, but
doesn’t mean you can’t minimize their impact, you
just need an effective plan. You can separate in
two levels, in one you may save for retirement in
tax-deferred vehicles, while in the other you outline
a distribution strategy for converting your
retirement savings to income streams that will last
as long as you live. Hire a professional to help you
with a tax strategy that helps you select various
savings vehicles that grow over time to meet your
goals while balancing your future tax liability.

8. Invest in the right time and in
the right thing
After your risk-based needs are met and you've maximized
contributions to a qualified retirement plan, and still have additional
dollars to invest, you can expand your investment strategy. You also
don’t have to build your business on new products every time, build
onto what you have. Pinpoint where your biggest profit margins come
from and look forward to understand who your moneymakers are. After
identifying and focusing on these areas, you can build your income and
revenues faster, therefore giving you a room to expand in other areas
later.

9. Have a steady income
As a business owner, you need to make wise and prudent financial
decisions. It is an ongoing process for your company, you will need to
judge and decide on a daily basis. For that having a steady stream of
income on hand is important. You need your budget to be right so you
know with how much you can deal and a steady income can make all
the differences. Don’t wait until you are desperate for funding, and
having to show your investors that you are in that place, concentrate on
planning in advance and on reducing the risk of a negative situation.
Permit professionals for assistance along the way to better manage
your money, so it can grow faster than you thought was possible.

10. Talk about the big picture
Keep on communicating your needs, dreams
and aspirations for your business. You don’t
need to do something different all the time,
but keep on dreaming, make the company
your own. As you progress through various
life stages and financial levels, continue the
conversation with your loved ones and
trusted advisors. Where you want to take
your company? What are the future
plans? What other fields you will want to
invest on? Answer the question from time to
time and always try to see the business for its
peculiarities, but also see the whole picture
and how to improve it.

11. Grant Barra