Small Business Development
Small Business Development Group (OTC: SBDG) is a publicly traded holding company that acquires, develops, and spins off operating businesses as independent public companies, targeting retiring baby boomer owners and underserved lower middle market firms via proprietary SLBO and IPO spin-off strategies.
- Company typePublic
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersCary, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Small Business Development does
Small Business Development Group, Inc. (OTC: SBDG) is a publicly traded holding company incorporated in North Carolina, founded in 1998 and headquartered in Cary, NC. The company is modeled on Berkshire Hathaway with a venture capital overlay: it identifies, acquires, and develops operating businesses, with the stated goal of building portfolio companies to a point where they can be spun off as independent publicly traded entities via IPOs or SPACs, generating share appreciation and spin-out stock dividends for SBDG shareholders. Its proprietary framework, 'The Engineering of a Public Company™,' and the Soft Leveraged Buyout (SLBO) transaction strategy were developed by CEO Roy Y. Salisbury and underpin SBDG's deal-making approach with retiring baby boomer business owners and underserved lower middle market companies.
SBDG's portfolio includes Strategic Manufacturers, Inc. (US manufacturing holding company), Appraisal 3000 (real estate appraisal with a proprietary software platform), Stony Hill Advisors (M&A advisory assisting NASDAQ firms with acquisitions), and Ubun2Group (acquired in July 2022 to build AI-driven M&A platforms). In October 2025, SBDG launched C2C Private Equity LLC as a co-investment fund with C2C Private Investment Company, represented by Winston & Strawn LLP, targeting strategic acquisitions, development, and spin-offs in the lower middle market. The firm also runs an AI-Driven M&A Division formed in 2022 and is conducting due diligence on a FinTech acquisition for publicly traded Palayan Resources (PLYN).
The go-to-market is sales-led and direct: SBDG engages business owners seeking succession/exit strategies through a professional network spanning legal, accounting, and capital markets counterparties, supplemented by organic social media, investor relations website content, Globe Newswire press releases, and shareholder communications. Office locations span North Carolina (HQ), California, Florida, Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Revenue is not publicly disclosed, and the firm is small (11-50 employees) and listed only on OTC Markets.
Small Business Development firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Small Business Development
- Legal name
- Small Business Development Group, Inc.
- Website
- https://sbdgstock.com
- Company type
- Public
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Small Business Development Group (OTC: SBDG) is a publicly traded holding company that acquires, develops, and spins off operating businesses as independent public companies, targeting retiring baby boomer owners and underserved lower middle market firms via proprietary SLBO and IPO spin-off strategies.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Small Business Development industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Private Equity & Holding Company
- NAICS
- Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)
- SIC
- Finance Services (6199)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs) (BPAHAOAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Captive CVC Fund (Dedicated corporate fund structure) (FSANAHAB), Corporate LP Programs (Corporate as LP in VC/PE funds) (FSANAHAH)
Keywords
Where Small Business Development is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cary
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices7 records
Markets served
Small Business Development business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Portfolio Company Holdings: SBDG generates returns by acquiring and developing portfolio companies with the goal of spinning them off into their own publicly traded companies. The exit strategy includes share dividends in the new public company to existing SBDG shareholders.
- Acquisition and Development: SBDG acquires businesses that deliver high quality products and services, focusing on driving revenue and profitability growth. The company aims to affirm or establish sound business fundamentals in acquired companies.
- Consulting and Advisory Services: SBDG provides consulting services to clients through its 5-fold mandate approach, including strategic development, business planning, and succession planning.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels9 records
Small Business Development product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Small Business Development Group, Inc. (OTC: SBDG) is a publicly traded holding company that acquires and develops profitable privately owned businesses, publicly traded companies in need of rehabilitation, and early-stage companies with proof of concept. The company applies its proprietary "Engineering of a Public Company™" methodology and Soft Leveraged Buyout (SLBO) transaction strategy, with the end goal of spinning successful portfolio holdings out as their own separately traded public companies through IPOs and SPACs. SBDG also delivers M&A advisory services through Stony Hill Advisors, runs a real estate appraisal subsidiary (Appraisal 3000), holds a manufacturing-holdings subsidiary (Strategic Manufacturers, Inc.), and operates a co-investment fund (C2C Private Equity LLC).
Product overview
Small Business Development Group (SBDG) is a publicly traded holding company modeled after Berkshire Hathaway with a venture capital component. Unlike a single unified software product, SBDG operates a portfolio of subsidiaries and developed services including: Strategic Manufacturers, Inc. (manufacturing holdings), Appraisal 3000 (real estate appraisal with software platform), Stony Hill Advisors (M&A advisory), and Ubun2Group (AI-driven M&A technology). The company also offers proprietary methodologies including The Engineering of a Public Company™ and the Soft Leveraged Buyout (SLBO) strategy. SBDG's core business model focuses on acquiring businesses, developing them, and spinning them out as IPOs, with a recently launched C2C Private Equity co-investment fund targeting the lower middle market.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- C2C Private Equity LLC Co-investment fund that targets underserved lower middle market companies, focused on strategic acquisitions, development, and spin-offs via IPOs and SPACs. Launched as a collaboration between SBDG and C2C Private Investment Company.
- Stony Hill Advisors Wholly-owned advisory subsidiary that provides M&A advisory services to clients, including NASDAQ-listed firms, assisting with key acquisitions.
- Strategic Manufacturers, Inc. (SMI) Wholly-owned subsidiary holding company with an active mandate to build and develop United States-based manufacturing operations as part of SBDG's portfolio strategy.
- Appraisal 3000 Wholly-owned real estate appraisal company and SBDG subsidiary that launched a new software platform to support its appraisal services offering.
- AI-Driven M&A Division Operates AI-driven M&A platforms and capabilities (anchored by Ubun2Group) to drive revenue and support SBDG's mergers and acquisitions activities for portfolio companies and clients.
Quantifiable outcome
- Spin-out successful holdings into IPOs generating share appreciation and spin-out stock dividends for shareholders
Companies that use Small Business Development
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Small Business Development technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature2 records
Small Business Development partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Winston & Strawn LLPminorWinston & Strawn LLP provides legal representation for the C2C Private Equity LLC co-investment fund launched by SBDG and C2C Private Investment Company.
- Palayan Resources (OTC: PLYN)coreSBDG is completing due diligence on a FinTech acquisition for Palayan Resources, a publicly traded holding company. SBDG is acting on behalf of PLYN for their FinTech acquisition strategy.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Small Business Development competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Berkshire Hathaway: SBDG explicitly models after Berkshire Hathaway's model of acquiring, holding, and developing operating businesses. Berkshire is the canonical reference holding company and the comparable used by SBDG's own marketing, though it operates at vastly greater scale and across insurance, transportation, and energy.
- Loews Corporation: Loews is a diversified holding company that owns operating businesses (CNA Financial, Boardwalk Pipelines, Loews Hotels) and returns value through dividends and capital allocation. Like SBDG, it operates as a holding vehicle with strategic oversight rather than direct operations, though at materially greater scale.
- Markel Group: Markel operates a Berkshire-style holding company model combining insurance underwriting with diversified operating subsidiaries. Its approach of acquiring niche operating companies and holding them long-term mirrors SBDG's strategic intent, though with insurance float providing permanent capital that SBDG lacks.
- Leucadia National (pre-merger with Jefferies): Historically a diversified holding company pursuing opportunistic investments across industries with a long-term hold philosophy, Leucadia is often cited alongside Berkshire as a small-scale holding company model. It compares to SBDG in its 'collection of businesses' approach and flexibility on capital deployment.
- Graham Holdings Company: Graham Holdings is a diversified holding company with operating businesses in education, media, healthcare, and manufacturing. Its model of acquiring undervalued or turnaround operating companies is structurally similar to SBDG's stated thesis of rehabilitating and developing portfolio businesses.
Direct peers
- HC2 Holdings: HC2 Holdings is a small-cap diversified holding company that acquires and develops operating businesses across multiple industries, with a similar strategy of building and restructuring companies for long-term value. Comparable in scale and OTC-listing profile to SBDG, with overlapping target markets in lower middle market acquisitions.
- Safeguard Scientifics: Safeguard historically operated as a small-cap holding company building value through minority and majority stakes in technology and life sciences companies, with a stated thesis of helping portfolio companies reach liquidity events. Its structure and scale are directly comparable to SBDG's spin-out oriented strategy.
- WinVest Acquisition Corp. WinVest is a small SPAC pursuing acquisitions in technology-enabled businesses. It compares to SBDG's stated use of SPACs as part of its spin-off and exit strategy for portfolio companies, representing the public-company vehicle mechanism at the heart of SBDG's 'Engineering of a Public Company' model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Small Business Development social profiles
Digital presenceSmall Business Development financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Small Business Development leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Small Business Development subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries5 records
Small Business Development funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Small Business Development M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Small Business Development
What does Small Business Development do?
Small Business Development Group, Inc. (OTC: SBDG) is a publicly traded holding company that acquires and develops profitable privately owned businesses, publicly traded companies in need of rehabilitation, and early-stage companies with proof of concept. The company applies its proprietary "Engineering of a Public Company™" methodology and Soft Leveraged Buyout (SLBO) transaction strategy, with the end goal of spinning successful portfolio holdings out as their own separately traded public companies through IPOs and SPACs. SBDG also delivers M&A advisory services through Stony Hill Advisors, runs a real estate appraisal subsidiary (Appraisal 3000), holds a manufacturing-holdings subsidiary (Strategic Manufacturers, Inc.), and operates a co-investment fund (C2C Private Equity LLC).
Is Small Business Development a public or private company?
Small Business Development is a public company. It is classified as public and is currently operating.
When was Small Business Development founded?
Small Business Development was founded in 1998. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Small Business Development based?
Small Business Development is headquartered in Cary, United States, in the North America region.
How does Small Business Development make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Portfolio Company Holdings are the primary driver. The others are acquisition and Development and consulting and Advisory Services.
Who are Small Business Development's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Berkshire Hathaway, Loews Corporation, Markel Group, Leucadia National (pre-merger with Jefferies) and Graham Holdings Company. Direct peers are HC2 Holdings, Safeguard Scientifics and WinVest Acquisition Corp..
Does Small Business Development have an API?
No public API is recorded for Small Business Development.
What industry is Small Business Development in?
Small Business Development's product category is Private Equity & Holding Company. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAOAG, Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs), with a secondary code of FSANAHAB, Captive CVC Fund (Dedicated corporate fund structure). Its NAICS code is 525 and its SIC code is 6199.