SMBash Coming to Texas in April
A major small business acquisition conference is headed to the Dallas-Fort Worth area this spring. SMBash 2026 takes place April 22-24 at The Rayleigh Underground in Irving, Texas—three days dedicated to buying, operating, and growing small and medium-sized businesses. For Texas entrepreneurs who are serious about scaling, not just maintaining, this one is hard to overlook. Forest Cole Langston, founder of Blue Line Real Estate Consulting LLC, puts it plainly: the business owners who grow are the ones who keep putting themselves in the right rooms.
What Is SMBash?
SMBash is the original self-funded entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA) and operator conference. The concept is straightforward–bring together the people actually doing the work of buying and building businesses, and give them a space to learn from each other. The audience runs the full spectrum, from first-time searchers still figuring out their first deal to seasoned operators managing multiple acquisitions.
What sets it apart from a typical business conference is the format. Attendance is intentionally capped to keep things intimate. Fewer people means better conversations, stronger connections, and less noise. The venue, The Rayleigh Underground, is minutes from both DFW Airport and Love Field, making it easy to reach from anywhere in the state.
What to Expect at the Conference
The agenda is practical from front to back. Keynote sessions include Lessons From 100 Failed Businesses by Michael Girdley of Girdley Enterprises and a fireside chat with Chris Williams of System Six. Beyond the keynotes, sessions dig into the stuff that actually matters when you’re acquiring or operating a business: deal sourcing, SBA debt, raising capital, financial modeling, risk management, hiring and recruiting, KPI tracking, and AI tools built for small business operators.
There’s also a live deal review workshop—attendees work through real acquisition scenarios with experienced operators in the room. That kind of hands-on exposure is hard to replicate anywhere else.
Every ticket includes three full meals per day, access to all sessions, post-event recordings, and exclusive partner offers.
Ticket Pricing and Details
General admission runs $1,995 per person. Teams get a break: two tickets drop to $1,895 each, and three or more tickets drop to $1,795 per person. Tickets are fully refundable up to 30 days before the event and transferable up to two weeks out, so there’s flexibility if plans change.
SMBash also runs a student fund program—donations go toward free tickets for students looking to break into the ETA space. Full registration and the complete agenda are at smbash.com.
Why Texas Entrepreneurs Should Take Note
Business acquisition is one of the most effective growth strategies available to independent entrepreneurs, and one of the most underused. Buying an existing business with real revenue, an established customer base, and operational systems already in place can move faster than building from scratch, if you know what you’re doing.
Forest Cole Langston knows the difference between showing up to events and showing up prepared. For Texas entrepreneurs in consulting, real estate, or any service-based industry with an eye toward growth through acquisition, SMBash is the kind of room that changes your thinking. Real deals and long-term partnerships get started at events like this. The DFW location puts it within reach for business owners from every corner of the state—there’s no reason to sit this one out.