Acquisitions and mergers abound! It feels like every day I am reading about a new acquisition, merger, or another company which is being listed for sale by one broker or another. It’s an amazing time to be in our industry. That also means that many of you are looking to grow through acquisitions.  Whether you are buying a local competitor or a company to open a new market.

The electronic security industry has undergone seismic changes since the English inventor Tildesey attached chimes to his homes doors to warn him of intruders.  A lot has changed since then, but one thing that has remained constant is the industry’s need to find new ways to convert equipment installations into recurring monthly revenue. In my experience this need is rarely fulfilled. In some cases, the integrators installation revenue in is in the tens of millions of dollars, but without a shred of recurring revenue coming in the door.

As the world races forward, so too does the landscape of security—a field where innovation is no longer a luxury but a necessity. At the helm of this transformation are veterans, whose unique blend of battlefield experience and strategic vision is driving a new wave of disruptive security technologies. These individuals are not merely adjusting to civilian life; they’re reshaping entire industries with a focus on protecting what matters most.

In the world of sales, the ability to learn and adapt is crucial. Salespeople are no strangers to the lessons taught by mistakes. The pain of a lost deal, a missed opportunity, or a failed pitch drives us to avoid those pitfalls in the future. Even if we’re not consciously trying to learn from our mistakes, the human response to pain ensures we do, at least on a subconscious level. However, there’s a powerful tool in the sales arsenal that’s often underutilized: learning from our successes.

My career as a professional in the security industry began as a systems installer in the New York tri-state region, which ultimately led me to forming my own company monitoring and servicing residential and commercial end-users. Shortly after, I had the good fortune to connect with a bright electrical engineer, Jonathan Sohnis, and together we founded Altronix. It seems like yesterday, but it was almost 40 years ago that Altronix was established. I’m responsible for sales and marketing, while my partner focuses on engineering and manufacturing. Initially, we saw an opportunity to enter the professional security industry with a mission to design and manufacture better power products and peripherals with added features and higher reliability.