Should I buy an existing billboard business or start one?

The choice in outdoor advertising comes down to sites. A new operator has to find locations, persuade landowners and obtain any approvals that apply before a face can earn anything. A buyer skips that sequence but takes on whatever the seller built, good or poor. Neither route is clearly better. It depends on your time, your contacts and your appetite for slow groundwork.

What starting from scratch involves

You would identify sites with traffic that advertisers want, negotiate with each landowner, and complete the approvals that apply to each structure. Ask a lawyer how those approvals work where you plan to build. Then you build, or buy, the structure and begin selling space with no track record. Each step takes time before any booking arrives.

What buying gives you, and what it brings with it

An existing business offers standing structures, signed leases, a booking history and advertiser relationships. It also brings ageing structures, short leases and perhaps a client list that depends on the seller. Review these as you would in what to check before buying a billboard company.

What to compare

• Time to first booking under each route.
• Quality of the sites: traffic, visibility and the competition nearby.
• Lease length, renewal terms and landowner relationships.
• Your own experience selling advertising space.

Write your answers beside each route and talk them through with an accountant who knows how small businesses are financed. Also ask yourself honestly how much of the groundwork you enjoy and how long you can wait before the first advertiser pays, since that patience often decides which route suits a person.