On September 30, 2013 the SEC eliminated an 80 year old rule which prohibited companies from soliciting investments via public advertising. This is a good thing, right? Nothing can stop your small billboard company from placing a banner on its website saying “Investors Wanted” or from putting up an “Investors […]
Billboard Loans Blog
Five Questions for Frank Rolfe of outdoorbillboard.com
Franke Rolfe is a successful billboard entrepreneur and educator. From 1982 to1996 Frank built the largest privately owned billboard company in Dallas. Frank sold this company to Universal Outdoor (predecessor to Clear Channel) and subsequently owned a billboard company in Los Angeles which he successfully sold to Heywood Outdoor. Frank runs the […]
Five Questions for Paul Wright of SignValue, Inc.
SignValue, Inc. is the leading valuation and advisory firm in the country located in Mesa, Arizona. They operate the signvalue.com website listing dozens of billboards for sale around the United States. Paul Wright is an expert on trends in the billboard industry and a certified appraiser. His book Billboard Appraisal: The Valuation of Off-Premise Advertising Signs is a must read for […]
Keeping track of your billboard company financials
You used to have to pay an accountant to keep track of your billboard company financials or spend several hundred dollars for accounting software which would only run on a single computer. If your accountant was on vacation or your computer crashed you had no access to financials. Those days […]
The Pros and Cons of Owning a Digital Billboard
I have seen strong demand on the part of clients for digital billboard financing. Digital billboards make sense for good locations. A digital billboard, however, will not make a bad location good. Here are the pros and cons of digital billboard. Digital Billboard Pros Extra revenue. Instead of getting $1,500/month […]
Outdoor revenue up 4.5% in 1Q 2013
Outdoor ad revenue rose 4.5% to $1.4 billion in the first quarter of 2012 according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. The outdoor sector’s improvement exceeded US radio revenues (flat for the first quarter according to Radio Advertising Bureau). Outdoor revenues also grew faster than the 1.1% growth in […]
Why I like the billboard business
My company makes loans and investments in the following sectors: outdoor advertising, radio, tower and catv. The outdoor advertising business is my favorite lending and investing sector. Here’s why. First, there are barriers to entry in the form of restrictive building codes which keep competitiors out. Second, the outdoor advertising […]
Financials for a stand-alone billboard.
I’ve summarized below the proforma financials for a 14 by 48 billboard which is in a good location. Revenue of $1,500/month if the billboard is one sided. Rents can be higher if the billboard is next to a freeway in a big city and lower if it is on a […]
Billboard Loan Collateral
A billboard lender will secure a billboard loan by taking a UCC-1 filing on cash, inventory, equipment and intangibles, an assignment of your material agreements (think ad contracts and leases) and a pledge of stock in your company. If you own land under your signs a lender will probably also […]
Good and Bad Billboard Leases
Have seen lots of billboard leases over the past 20 years. A bad lease can make it difficult to get financing or ruin your business prospects. What’s in a good billboard lease. 1. A term of at least 20 years with optional extensions. 2. Assignability to someone else without consent. […]
