I have 2 businesses in front of me right now. One is rather volatile with a lot of growth potential whereas the second one doesn't scale as much (limited by geography) but basically has contracts signed for work up to 2026 and is very stable.

My mindset right now is to go with the stable business as this is my first acquisition and I don't have much wiggle room should revenues decrease significantly. I'm a rather conservative investor in general. However, the fast growing business is very alluring with its potential and could easily be worth twice as much in 5-7 years from now... if everything lines up properly that is.

I'm just curious to see how you guys approach the selection of businesses and some of the most important filters you use.