When Billboard Insider interviewed entrepreneur Matt Richman about starting, running and selling his out of home business we asked him what he knows now that he wishes he knew when he started and he said this…

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you started in out of home?

I wish I’d thought bigger.  I wanted to do it all alone.  But if I’d brought in partners I could have been 2-3 times bigger.  Some people don’t want that.

Billboard Insider’s Take

Billboard Insider can think of several advantages to adding an outside partner to your out of home business.

• You have more money to grow faster.  Institutional partners are good at finding the debt and equity to help a company grow.  Ask Jim Matalone of Ashby Street Outdoor, Jesse London of Tier One or Chenault Saunders at Blackbird Media.
• You’ve got a succession plan if something happens to you.  Your partner can step in and protect the value of your equity.  Who wants to add that responsibility on the shoulders of a grieving spouse if they haven’t been involved in the business day to day?
• A good institutional partner can help you attract people and put the systems in place to grow.  Their job is to grow companies.  They know what kinds of challenges happen as a company scales.
• A partner provides feedback and counsel to help you make better decisions.  They can also bring up ideas which you haven’t thought of for growing or running a better business.

But outside partners have disadvantages.

• Partners need to be kept informed.   This diverts time and energy which you could put into growing your business.
• Partners will want a say in key decisions.  Your company will be less nimble and may take longer to do things.
• Partners will want control of the business if they put in enough money.  This is especially true for private equity.  It is less of a problem if you assemble a diverse group of accredited investors.
• You are diluting your ownership interest.  You need to decide if you are better off with 100% of a smaller pie or less than 100% of a bigger pie.

Have your taken an outside parter into your out of home business?   Why or why not.  Take our poll below or email davewestburg@billboardinsider.com with your comments and we’ll run a followup post.

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