Benefits of going public A small business or company can raise capital through selling securities by first registering the company with the SEC. This makes the company public. The decision of a company to go public may have several advantages or benefits. One of them is boosting the company’s brand, prestige and publicity. An IPO distributes shares to a wide investor base creating greater public awareness for the company’s products and services. The increased visibility offers a publicly traded company competitive advantage over privately held companies in the same industry and makes it easier to expand nationally and internationally (KPMG LLC, 2008).