Your Personality

Some people are extremely private and are not very keen on sharing information on themselves or their business. So if this describes you as a business person, then going public is not for you. When you bring your company public, the world knows your business. Every detail of your personal life will be exposed to public review. Your annual salary, perks, potential conflicts of interest and other will be made available to the public. Detailed information will also be made available on the board of directors that you have chosen along with company advisors.

If you are the type of business person who a “my way or the highway” attitude forget about going public. If you are the type of person that likes to stretch the truth and doesn’t believe in “full disclosure” then I will let you in on a little secret. Meet your new prison roommate – Bubba.

That mentality works fine in the private sector but will never fly in public arena. You have to ask yourself if you have the ability to embrace the rigid formats that come along with being a CEO of a public Company. In a public company the CEO has to answer for all of his actions, good, bad or indifferent. It’s like being under a microscope 24 hours a day.

Also, a public company will have an auditing committee that will dissect how you are running and managing your business. Some entrepreneurs will not tolerate such close scrutiny. Therefore, you must come to terms with some loss of both authority and autonomy if you go public. Obviously, many successful entrepreneurs that have gone public have overcome this hurdle. But for certain individuals, it might be insurmountable.

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