It was the fall of 2007, and I had just taken a job as Director of Marketing for United Country Auction Services, a new franchise system for auctioneers. That's where I first learned about the accelerated marketing method, which is still my favorite way to sell unique assets.

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In the spring of 2008, the housing market collapsed, and we were divesting portfolios for institutions such as Arvest Bank, Bank of America, and others that had too many underwater assets on their balance sheets. Businesses, houses, commercial property, you name it, and we sold it.

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That experience reframed how I think about selling pretty much anything.

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When you're moving distressed assets at speed, you stop thinking in terms of "find a buyer" and start thinking in terms of "find the right process." The asset isn't the variable. The process is.

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Which brings me to something most people get wrong about business transitions.

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Most people hear "business transition" and think crisis or retirement. But the majority of transitioning founders aren't in crisis at all. They're simply done. Tired of certain parts, ready to access liquidity, or just want to pursue something new. These are all valid reasons, and all deserve a transparent process, not a Hail Mary listing on the market.

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The other thing most owners get wrong is the menu of choices. They think the choice is between selling everything to one buyer or keeping it running. That's almost never the full picture.

Here are some other ways to sell a unique business or parts of it:

1. Sell the whole operating business to a strategic acquirer, a competitor, private equity, an employee, or an individual buyer.
2. Run an asset auction and surface buyers you'd never find through a listing, selling inventory, equipment, IP, brand, domain, social media, real estate, whatever has value.
3. Sell the real estate and the business together to maximize the combined bid, or separate them to attract different buyer pools.
4. Sell a component: a product line, a territory, a customer list, a division, domains, social followings, trademarks, proprietary processes, and client databases.
5. Run a strategic liquidation, which is a great option when the seller needs to move on a defined timeline.

There are almost always options for the 80% of businesses that never sell.

Have a blessed weekend.

-Kevin Oldham
Founder @ Diffactory