Could your distribution business run without you for two weeks?

Start with five situations from the counter and stockroom

Consider these as a desk exercise. Do not withdraw supervision from safety-critical, regulated, or unfamiliar work. For each situation, write down who could take the next step today and what would stop them.

• A regular customer asks for a price exception on a large reorder.
• A promised delivery is late and the customer needs an alternative.
• A familiar part number has been discontinued.
• A supplier puts an order on hold and needs an answer.
• A key person is away when an urgent order arrives.

Separate missing knowledge from missing authority

Those are different problems. Someone may know how to quote an order but still need your approval for every exception. Another person may have authority to purchase but lack the supplier relationship needed to resolve a shortage. A training document helps with one gap; a clearer decision limit or introduction may help with another.

Use a simple responsibility map

Create one row for each recurring decision. Record the current decision-maker, a potential backup, the information required, the authority needed, and the circumstances that still require escalation. Keep customer identities, passwords, and sensitive account details out of any general worksheet you share with a prospective buyer.

Try one supervised handover

Choose a frequent, reversible task. Work through it together, document the steps, and agree when the backup should ask for help. For example, a fictional distributor might start with routine reorder quotes within already approved pricing limits. This is an illustration of a process, not a result from an Old Growth portfolio business.

Keep the evidence useful

After a few repetitions, note what the backup handled and what still came back to you. The result is a more specific conversation: “These decisions are covered; these three still need my involvement.” It does not prove that a sale will happen or that the business has a particular value. It gives you, your team, and your advisers a clearer starting point.