While the industry values speed, Mauricio Umanski, founder of The Agency, writes that long-term initiatives that don’t show immediate ROI are more important.
I’ve made many business decisions that couldn’t be justified with a spreadsheet. Some of them were the best calls I’ve ever made.
When I founded The Agency in 2011, I didn’t think I’d be back so soon. We were building something. And building something real means making investments that won’t pay off this quarter or even this year. It means betting on what you believe in before the numbers back it up.
It’s hard to argue that in a budget meeting. It’s easy to look back on.
Prioritize culture first, even if you can’t afford it
In the early days, people told me to focus on the bottom line and worry about culture later. Start by setting up your business properly. I believed the opposite.
I was intentional about who I would bring in, how I would treat agents, and what kind of place I would build before I had the scale to justify it. There was no ROI formula for that.
But the culture has quietly become more complex, and what we built in our early years has become one of our greatest competitive advantages. That’s still the case today.
Some of the agents who sat next to me when we first started are still here. Such loyalty doesn’t just happen. That’s what culture looks like when it’s actually working.
You’ll never build a culture if you wait until you can afford to build it. You just build your business.
Build your brand before your reputation
When we launched, we invested in design, identity, and marketing at a level disproportionate to our size. We looked bigger than we actually were. People questioned it.
But in luxury real estate, perception creates reality. Customers making important decisions will not trust a brand that appears to be trying to find them.
The initial investment in the brand, made long before the brand produced any measurable profits, became the foundation on which everything else was built. And it disrupted the industry in ways I completely didn’t expect.
Competitors also took notice. Many of them started copying what we were doing. That’s when we knew it was right.
No one will remember what you saved on marketing. They remember how you showed up.
turn down some business
This also costs money every time. Reject incorrect listings. Walk away from a deal that doesn’t feel right. Breaking up with people who create what you are building but also cause damage.
I have clients whose prices are unrealistic, who are resistant to advice, and who care more about being right than results. Each time, I called to back off. And each time, after months on the market and no traction, he came back. Not because I chased him, but because the market told him what I already had.
This situation has happened several times before, and there are lessons beyond the obvious. Saying no isn’t just about saving your time or your sanity. It’s important to trust your expertise enough to let the results speak for themselves.
A client worth having is one that respects what you bring to the table. Sometimes they have to learn it the hard way before they’re actually ready to work with you.
The deals you don’t take determine your reputation as much as the deals you do take. There is no formula for protecting integrity, but compromising integrity can be very costly. I’ve seen it play out both ways so many times to know which side I want to be on.
hire people before they are needed
Some of the best people I’ve ever hired were before they had a clear role. I didn’t want to lose them because I could see what they were capable of. This is a difficult case to judge on the balance sheet.
At the end of the day, it’s important to have the foresight to recognize the types of talent and skillsets that will drive your business forward before your business is ready to absorb it. That instinct develops over time and is worth cultivating.
The leaders who have shaped The Agency are rarely hired to fill immediate vacancies. I hired them because I saw something in them, believed in what they could become, and wanted to build something together. These kinds of human bets, made based on instinct and relationships rather than org charts or job descriptions, have paid off more than most other decisions I’ve ever made.
What we know now
In this industry, speed matters. There is always another trade, another market, another indicator. And those things are important. But they are not the ones who built the agency.
Building it was a decision that didn’t make sense on a quarterly basis. It was built on a long-term view, a willingness to absorb short-term costs, and a belief that how fast you build something matters.
Investments that don’t show an immediate ROI are the most difficult to defend right now. In my experience, they are also the ones most worth making.
We will have to wait until we find the evidence.
Mauricio Umansky is the founder and CEO of The Agency in Los Angeles. Connect with him on Instagram.
