My industry is down in general but was so pre and post acquisition and that was factored in ahead of time. I come from a sales background so 90% of all efforts post close have been revenue generation. Fortunately our sales cycle is only around 2-3 weeks. I hope to elaborate more in a post in the next few weeks as this has been an intense learning curve.

Unfortunately I have seen financial statements for a large percentage of businesses in 2024 where revenues and / or EBITDA is down over the same time period last year. There are always exceptions, but overall I think 2024 is a bit of a setback in the small business world. But 2022 and 2023 were very strong years for most companies, and business is always cyclical, so I expect many of these businesses will bounce back next year. Often when fresh blood is injected into a business if you focus on sales & marketing you can often pick up low hanging fruit the seller was not focused on. But that is not always the case. Be sure you understand your industry and market conditions before going into it, and try to leave room to allow for a decline in revenues and still remain profitable.