Small businesses are the backbone of the economy, making up over 99% of all U.S. businesses and employing tens of millions of people across the country. Many are owned by Baby Boomers who are looking to retire but can't. Their kids often don't want their businesses, and finding a buyer can prove difficult. In such a situation, they have little choice but to keep on working or dissolve often successful enterprises. 

Teamshares, which is going public later this month, is trying to change that. Teamshares buys small and medium-sized businesses with $0.5 to $5 million of EBITDA, offers employees company stock and appoints a new head to run it. Taking a page from Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK) (NYSE:BRK) but on a smaller scale, Teamshares reports it has acquired over 90 companies since launching in 2019 and has about $500 million in consolidated revenue. The company leverages its proprietary in-house software platform to select, value and operate the businesses it buys.

"We get 75,000 businesses actively for sale each year, and last year we chose nine of those businesses," says Michael Brown, CEO of Teamshares. "We buy high-quality companies that have been around for an average of 37 years." Teamshares businesses, which it typically pays 4 to 6 times EBITDA for, span more than 40 industries and 30 states. It owns a small business that buys flowers from farmers to sell to local flower shops, a manufacturer of ...