NEW YORK, NY — December 1, 2025 — The Maker Group, a global leader in negotiation strategy and capability development, today announced the formal launch of its Small Business Academy, a purpose-built training platform designed to give entrepreneurs, founders, and emerging operators the same negotiation discipline long reserved for enterprise buyers.
As part of the launch, The Maker Group has appointed Michael Sands, a multi-time CEO, investor, and CPG operator as Principal Consultant to lead commercialization and client success for the Academy. Sands joins the firm after a 35-year career building, turning around, and scaling brands including Snapple, Ben & Jerry’s, Balance Bar, YumEarth Organic Candy, and LesserEvil Snacks, as well as co-founding and advising multiple consumer startups.
“Entrepreneurs lose more money in negotiations than anywhere else — and they often don’t know it,” said Sands. “Major retailers train their buyers relentlessly. Small companies don’t — and that is costly. The Academy is designed to correct that imbalance early, while growth and capital are still fragile.”
The Small Business Academy integrates three components:
- Pre-work simulation — game-based negotiation rehearsal to calibrate decision-making
- One-day Immersive workshop — case-driven training in The Maker Framework
- Institutionalization — 12-month platform license, tools, and deal coaching
The curriculum is specifically engineered for high-leverage negotiations faced by scaling companies — co-manufacturing, retail buyers, distributors, packaging and ingredient suppliers, leases, insurance, legal services, investors, and executive hires.
“Giving small companies a negotiation advantage has compounding value,” said Matt Geddie, Partner at The Maker Group. “Better terms today mean stronger margins, more runway, better exits, and less dilution. Sands has been on both sides of these tables — he understands exactly where value leaks and how to stop it.”
Initial workshops are being scheduled for Q1 and Q2, 2026 across both in-person and virtual delivery formats, with ideal cohort size of 2-3 leaders per company and 4-8 companies participating.
About The Maker Group
The Maker Group is a global commercial capability-building firm that works with clients to strengthen their strategic planning, selling, buying, and negotiation processes for accelerated profitable growth. The Maker Group has worked with thousands of individuals and organizations to ignite growth, drive profitability, and capture savings through effective skill building programs and targeted consultative engagements.
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