The seller sits across from you, spreadsheet open, talking about "a few operational challenges" that could be "easily fixed with fresh management." Three months after closing, you discover the head of sales has been interviewing elsewhere for six months, the largest customer is unhappy, and that "temporary dip" in gross margin is actually a structural problem.
You just paid €800K for a €400K business.
Here's what's interesting: the seller might not have been lying. They genuinely believed fresh management would fix things. They didn't realize the sales head was job hunting because he never told them. They convinced themselves the margin issue was temporary because acknowledging otherwise was too painful.
