How to Lead Your Next Board Meeting Amidst Capital Market Uncertainty
Tariffs, Forecasting, and Credit Cycle — A Guide to Steering the Ship Through This Moment and Time
It’s been a hectic few weeks. Capital markets are shaky, tariffs are dictating headlines, and our once-clear forecast is now a recasting machine. Lenders are tightening up. Investors are suddenly asking questions they weren’t asking a few months ago. Q1 just ended, and you have a board meeting on the calendar.
I want you to know that in moments like these, great operators earn their credibility and leadership chops. You don’t lead through clear skies. You lead through uncertainty.
Here’s how to prep, present, and lead your next board meeting.
1. Start With the Weather Report (And Be Honest)
Your board needs situational awareness and clarity. You don’t have to predict the future. You should be agile at this moment vs being overly deterministic.
What to say upfront: “Here’s what’s happening. Here’s what we know. Here’s what’s blurry. And here’s how we’re planning through the fog.”
Set the tone early in the meeting with a macro snapshot:
Tariff impacts (either announced or anticipated)
Freight volatility
Consumer sentiment and inflation pressure
Credit environment — lending updates if you’re in a financing cycle? On what terms?
Investor sentiment — have the growth equity calls changed tone?
Give your board a high-level overview, then go to the part they care about most: how you’re adjusting.
2. Tariffs: Margin Impact
This needs a dedicated slide or two (or three)…
If you’re importing products — from Asia, LATAM, even EU in some cases — show your planning process.
Don’t bury tariff risk in your appendix slides. Call it out, even if it’s not fully defined yet. The best board members know that risk management starts before the rule goes into effect.
Questions you should be ready to answer:
What SKUs or categories are most exposed?
What’s your tariff-adjusted gross margin scenario?
What hedging strategies are available? (forward-buying, vendor negotiation, pricing power)
What’s the estimated timeline for implementation, and how are you planning around it?
My recommendation: Build a “Tariff Sensitivity Table” — something that shows the potential EBITDA impact at various tariff % levels. And if you can map it to your top 10 SKUs, even better. No one expects you to be omniscient, but they do expect to see that you’re modeling through your scenarios.
3. Forecasting in Uncertainty
I always struggle when folks tell me a forecast isn’t “accurate.” Forecasting, by its very nature, is something that’s either deterministic or indeterministic. Forecasting can’t be accurate. There will always be a variance.
Here’s how we are approaching this.
Move from “point forecast” to “range-based planning.”
Present your base case, downside, and upside — and clearly outline the assumptions behind each.
Base: Steady state, moderate tariff adjustment, flat credit.
Downside: Higher tariffs, lower consumer spend, tightened credit.
Upside: Minimal tariff impact, upside on new channel performance.
Use bands, not just percentages. Boards will appreciate going beyond a spreadsheet and showing a confidence interval.
Shorten your time horizon.
Move from annual to rolling 13-week and rolling 6-month views. This will help immensely.
Forecast cash thoughtfully, not just P&L or demand plan.
In uncertainty, cash beats GAAP. Have a dynamic 13-week cash flow that ties to working capital levers.
4. Your Board Wants To See a Plan
In times of market pressure, there can be a natural inclination to project unwavering confidence or attempt to manage everything single-handedly. A more grounded and successful approach involves embracing transparency and leveraging collective intelligence.
Come into the meeting with these things:
A clear-eyed assessment of risk
A dynamic plan for responding (think about your scenarios)
A framework for when and how you’ll make critical decisions
My recommendation: “Here’s how we’re thinking about the levers we can pull, the ones we’re monitoring, and what triggers our next set of moves.”
Board members want to know how you think about the problem set, not just what you think.
5. Tightening Credit: What to Expect and How to Respond
Whether you’re carrying a term loan, asset-based line, or mezz facility — credit conditions are shifting. Banks are repricing risk. Covenants that once felt ornamental are suddenly real.
Here’s what you should be tracking before the board asks:
Are your revolver advance rates shifting?
Has your lender updated collateral coverage standards?
What’s your runway assuming zero credit line availability?
Do you have a plan to renegotiate covenants or extend terms?
My recommendation: Connect with your lender before the board meeting and have a pulse check. They’ve probably already reached out to you. Know where you stand.
And if you’re planning to raise equity or debt in the next 6–12 months? Assume it’ll take longer and likely cost more. Price this into your plan / forecast and be prepared to manage this risk.
6. Working Capital Discipline
This is where the magic happens.
When external capital becomes expensive or scarce, internal capital management becomes paramount. That means working capital is not a finance problem — it’s an operating system.
In your deck, show your board members:
Inventory turns: How are we optimizing the velocity of our stock?
Receivables: What’s our DSO trend, and where can we pull forward cash?
Payables: Can we stretch without hurting relationships?
Example board slide: “Working Capital Optimization Plan — Q2 Focus”
$2.5M tied up in slow-moving SKUs — plan to liquidate or promo out
NET 30 terms on top 5 customers — exploring discount-for-early-pay strategy
Negotiating 10-day extension on top 3 supplier contracts
When you show you’re managing the balance sheet like a pro, your board members will listen.
7. Reframe Success: From Growth-Focused to Resilient Operating Models
Growth is essential and desired in all market conditions — but it’s no longer the only north star. Investors value durability, cash conversion, and strategic focus.
What the board needs to hear: “Here’s how we’re rebalancing the business: investing in what’s working, pausing what’s not, and protecting our downside while positioning for upside.”
That means showing:
Channel-level contribution margins
CAC trends with cash-on-cash payback periods
Any experiments that are being killed quickly (yes, you should talk about what you stopped)
And if you’re reallocating resources? Make sure your board knows you’re not just cutting — you’re reallocating for a desired future state.
8. Lead With Clarity and Confidence
Your next board meeting is beyond a financial update. It’s a leadership moment.
Your tone, structure, and clarity signal more to your board than any spreadsheet can. When you walk in with a plan, own the uncertainty, and clearly outline next steps — your board breathes easier. They trust the operator in the seat.
Board-ready checklist:
Lead with the macro, then zoom into ops
Anticipate questions and pre-wire tough topics
Don’t oversell best-case — but don’t let downside fears paralyze you
Close with clear asks: “Here’s what we’re watching, here’s what we’re doing, and here’s where I’ll need board input by X time frame”
9. Ask for Help (And Be Specific)
Your board wants to help. But vague asks like “Let us know if you have thoughts” is sub-optimal.
Come with targeted asks:
“We’re modeling tariff impacts — has anyone seen strong vendor response strategies?”
“We’re running into tighter lender covenants — has anyone renegotiated terms successfully in the last 60 days?”
“We’re reevaluating pricing in light of margin compression — any recs on DTC elasticity testing partners?”
High-functioning boards want to be activated. Don’t make them guess how.
10. Arm Your Board
Investors and board members are sitting in 5–10 boardrooms a quarter. They’re seasoned. There’s never a need to posture or pretend. Just play ball and know your business better than anyone else.
This approach builds true partnership and equips your board to govern effectively, even through significant uncertainty. It turns anxiety into informed readiness.