How Smart Owners Build Their Crisis Board Before the Crisis Hits

Think about your last truly bad day in business, the kind where something broke that you never saw coming. Who did you actually call? Most owners have a phone full of contacts and almost nobody they can reach when it really counts.

You'll learn how to build your own board of five people before you ever need them: who belongs in each seat and why most owners pick wrong, the small, specific ask that earns a yes, and the light cadence that keeps the line warm. Build it while nothing's wrong, because the day you need it is the one day you can't!

Topics discussed:

The last bad day you didn't see coming (00:00)

Why you build the table before you need it (03:12)

How the "fourth box" started over a bourbon and a cigar (05:13)

The introduction worth more than the advice (07:30)

Move #1: selection — five seats by function, not friendship (09:40)

Move #2: the small, specific, give-first ask (13:13)

Move #3: cadence — keeping the line warm (15:44)

The best time to build is when nothing's wrong (18:16)

Claim 50% off your seat at the next Business Bourbon & Cigars Leadership Retreat, October 14–16, 2026 in Louisville, KY: https://meplusultra.com/BBC50