Five Questions for Frank Rolfe

Franks Rolfe is a successful billboard entrepreneur and educator.  From 1982 to 1996 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 OutdoorBillboard.com  website (www.OutdoorBillboard.com) which is a great forum and news source for small billboard companies.  Frank also operates Outdoor Billboard University (www.OurdoorBillboardUniversity.com) which sells training materials and conducts the outdoor boot camp.  I highly recommend that you bookmark Frank’s websites if you are interested in learning about the industry.    

What made you start OutdoorBillboard.com?

I didn’t start OutdoorBillboard.com, Dave Reynolds did. Dave started that site at a time when the Internet was just starting up, and he thought a listing service of billboards for sale would be of value. I started OutdoorBillboardUniversity.com along with Dave. That’s the website that’s dedicated to teaching people about the billboard industry. We started it because Dave noticed that there are no books or courses in existence on the industry, so he urged me to write one. It was fun thinking back about everything I learned about billboards and putting it down on paper and CDs.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the outdoor business in the past 20 years? 

The invention of printed vinyl. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, virtually all billboards were painted by hand. This was expensive, slow and dangerous. In addition, we could not paint by hand the amazing graphics that vinyl allows – just painting a human face was hard and seldom photo-quality. Vinyl has allowed for photos as large as the sign face – in 100% accuracy and color – as well as the elimination of having to wait for weather conducive to paint on location to install the ad. When I owned my billboard company, the biggest focus of all was on the paint shop. It didn’t matter what you sold, you could not get paid if the ad was not up, and the painters had you over a barrel. A week of rain or freezing temperatures meant no ads could go up, and no revenue in the door. Times are much better with the invention of vinyl. It’s a win/win for everyone – except the sign painters!

What the best advice you can give someone who’s just starting out?

My advice would be to think small and grow into something big. I started with one billboard and ended up with over 300. The nice thing about billboards is that you can take manageable small steps to hit your goal, as opposed to businesses that require a leap of faith. That’s how WalMart was built – it grew from just one small town store – as did Bass Pro Shops.  It’s a lot easier to take action when you are not gambling your entire life savings.

What’s the biggest mistake people make in the billboard business?

Not being realistic on their numbers. If all the signs on the highway rent for $500 per month, you’re probably not going to get $650. And if the note payment is X, and the rent less expenses is Y, and X is bigger than Y, you’re not going to cash flow positive. I remember doing some due diligence on some billboards in Las Vegas in which the ground rent alone was higher than the gross revenue. Those kind of deals only work in fantasy land, and fantasy land is very expensive and depressing in real life. If the numbers don’t work, then move on to the next deal.

What’s your opinion on the merits of the billboard business versus the 8 sheet business?

The biggest hurdle to being an 8-sheet operator is the sheer volume of units you have to own to have the critical mass to make a full-time job of it anymore.  Back when I was blowing and going in the 1980’s, the 8-sheet operators were my heroes, as they were making a fortune by renting 400 signs at a time to Camel or Colt 45, and had the fanciest offices in Dallas. I went to one 8-sheet operator’s office, and it was filled with auction-quality antique outdoor posters of Coke and Dr. Pepper and leather furniture, looking out over downtown Dallas. Fast-forward to the voluntary withdrawal of tobacco advertising from billboards, and the same owner is dead of a heart attack and his kid offices out of a run-down industrial building.  You can make money with many different types of outdoor billboards, but there’s no question that larger units make significantly more money. You can make a handsome full-time living off 10 full-size signs, but it’s hard with 8-sheets unless you have a bunch of them.