This week we have Leigh Cummings on the show sharing her story about selling her bookkeeping firm. She had been running it for almost 20 years, described it as her baby having nurtured, built and grown it from the ground up. We hear how Leigh made the decision to sell, how she navigated the process with her broker, lawyer, weighing up the different offers, all the way through the transition and what she’s doing now post sale.    In particular, this episode explores: [10:40] Leigh’s background and how you first started exploring the idea of selling her business [16:10] Speaking with your broker, how did they go about the valuation for the business [19:10] What did the marketing piece look like for you in selling the business? [20:00] How many offers were received and how did you go about deciding which offer to take? [24:40] Deal details - cash payment, retention clauses [28:08] The challenges of staying on and working in the business after sale during the transition period [30:40] How did you broach the conversation with your team and at what point did you tell them? [32:40] Deciding between buyers and offers [34:40] Learnings from working with the broker and lawyer [36:30] Any other lessons for other bookkeepers or accountants from your sale process [37:50] What did you do in the post sale phase?  [43:30]  Negotiating the contract, non-competes and restrictions   Leigh is a business consultant with over 20 years’ experience and is also a Registered BAS Agent with a Certificate IV in Accounting. Her logical approach combined with the ability to embrace and create change has been the foundation of her successful career. Leigh is skilled at identifying organisational requirements and implementing cloud solutions to enhance business efficiencies. After 19 years of building a profitable bookkeeping business, she sold to focus on her passion of improving business performance. Whether this is an ear of support, cashflow management or implementing systems to improve the overall running of the business it is what she loves to do.   You can connect with Leigh on Linkedin, and get more information about her work on the Mint Dynamics website, or on Facebook or Instagram.   This episode of the podcast is brought to you by sponsors: Teamup