Huntington Billboard Company has gone from 0 faces to 3,100 faces in 5 years, mostly by organic development and the company is in the midst of an ambitious expansion plan.  Today Huntington’s CEO Justin Powell shares 4 tips for managing growth.

Managing growth is hard. They say when you are growing at 10%, a year plan is a year plan. When you are growing at 25%, a year plan is a six-month plan. When you are growing at 100%, a year plan is a month plan. This is broadly true because the quicker you grow, the faster things change, and the harder it is to “see” into the future and make decisions.

Growth is painful. Your systems fail at increasingly quicker paces. Your team, who several months ago were happy and busy, are now overwhelmed and hanging on by their fingernails. The spreadsheet that used to do a great job keeping track of inventory and clients is now hundreds of lines deep and is unmanageable (and don’t even try to switch to a four-week billing cycle).

The skills and knowledge that got you to a certain level of success eventually will not work anymore. Managing growth is all about “killing” the organization/person we were to become the organization/person we want to be (and our organizations need us to be). This is so counterintuitive because the very things that got us to our current level of success are now the things holding us back from reaching the next level. The “I’m starting my own company because I can do it better than everyone else” attitude that got you up and running is really hard to overcome when you have to start delegating.

Growth is hard – but there are several things that really helped me and hopefully they can help you.

1. Pick the best team you can.

When we reached 400 displays, the company was falling apart. The team was exhausted, occupancy was low, and there was never enough time to get everything done. I wish I could say I was smart enough to go out on my own and hire a General Manager, but in reality, my board told me to do it. I also wish I could say I was smart enough to find an amazing GM, but in reality, he fell out of the sky and was brave enough to take a chance. His hiring cost us a huge portion of our budget, but he immediately set about creating the systems and hiring the people to take us to the next level. Working with good people with complementary skills will make all the difference in your company.

To that end, sometimes you have to move people out of roles to make room for people who are better fits. To that end, over the years, I fired myself and my family from nearly every role we once held because there were people who could do it better than we could.

Book recommendation: “Rocket Fuel” by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters

 2. Nail it then scale it.

The first billboard deal I ever looked at was for a group of VERY large billboard assets along an Ohio interstate. I was twenty-one, and the owners wanted $1.2 million. At that point in my life, I could barely scrape together even a portion of the asking price.

After several more failed acquisition attempts (including going to the regional Lamar office and asking them if they would sell me several of their billboards), I turned towards attempting to build my own. At the time, those lost acquisitions felt like the end of a dream. In hindsight, they were the foundation for what would become Huntington. Having to build my first billboard and the next hundred forced me to grow slowly and learn the business from the ground up. There weren’t a lot of choices, so I learned. Everything. I legitimately spent the first several years of my company digging, welding, hanging vinyls, selling, designing ads, etc. Growing slowly in the beginning allowed us to grow quickly now.

Book Recommendation: “Nail It then Scale It” by Nathan Furr and Paul Ahlstrom

3. Pick one thing.

Most entrepreneurs/business owners have three companies and are invested in five more. That’s certainly how I was for the first several years of running Huntington. It was easier and more exciting to start something new than focus on the boring work of growing the company I had. Most people will be good at one or maybe two things in their life. Huntington is great at developing a certain type of location in certain markets and we are good at servicing a certain type of client. We’re super focused, and we say no often so we can continue to be laser-focused on the few areas where we are exceptional. Effectively managing growth means focusing on mastering several things and then doing those things over and over again. The faster you realize what those things are for your company and focus on them, the better off you will be.

4. Think like an investor.

I come from a long line of farmers on both sides of my family. I have so much respect for farmers. Their work ethic, intelligence, and management skills are incredible, but when there’s a piece of ground that comes up for sale beside their farm, you might as well take their money and burn it. They will pay whatever it takes to buy it. Billboard owners are sometimes the same. Decision-making becomes more about pride and bragging than financial considerations.

It is so easy to overpay for a lease or go crazy bidding on an acquisition when you’re trying to grow, but the best CEO/owners think like investors. They regularly take stock of their equity and figure out how to grow it as fast and safely as possible. Each project is carefully vetted for expected returns and only pursued if it makes economic sense. This is what professional investors do, and it’s the best possible way to measure and manage your growth. When the upside is huge, you are going to take bigger risks; when the upside is low, you pull back.

Book Recommendation: “The Outsiders” by William N. Thorndike Jr.

We have an incredible industry full of amazing people. Unlike nearly every other legacy advertising option, OOH is growing and taking marketing dollars from the others as they die an inglorious death. This is not a set pie where my sales take from yours; as we all grow, so does the industry. Managing growth is hard, but doing it right has enormous positive effects for your owners, employees, and the entire industry.

To receive a free morning newsletter with each day’s Billboard insider articles email info@billboardinsider.com with the word “Subscribe” in the title.  Our newsletter is free and we don’t sell our subscriber list.

Paid Advertisement