Individual proprietorships account for 167 (6%) of the 2,706 out of home advertising firms in the 2012 US Census as you can see from the following table:

2012 US Census US Out of Home Advertising Firm Legal Structures

Insider strongly urges you to switch to an S-Corp or LLC if you are one of the 167 out of home advertising sole proprietorships in the United States.  A sole proprietorship is an unincorporated business owned and run by one individual with no distinction between the business and the owner.  This means that any debts and liabilities of the out of home business are debts and liabilities of the individual.  This is in contrast to an S-Corp, Limited Liability Corporation or a Corporation where the owners do not carry personal liability for the debts and liabilities of the business.  Here are some of the ways a sole proprietorship exposes you to risk if you own billboard assets.

• If you own a billboard as a sole proprietorship and that billboard falls you are liable for all damages to property or people.

• If you are a sole proprietorship any long term billboard leases are your personal liability.

• If you are a sole proprietorship and a worker falls while changing vinyl you will be personally liable for all damages.

• If you are a sole proprietorship and you get fined by a municipal or government agency you will be personally liable for the fine.

For these reasons if makes sense to form a Corporation, S-Corporation or Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) to own your out of home advertising assets.   A corporation makes sense if you have lots of outside shareholders.  S-Corps and LLC’s have tax advantages versus corporations but that may change based on some proposals in Congress.

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