The market was down. George Laughton had positioned himself perfectly into the REO and foreclosure market.

George ran out of cash.

So he hired his dad to do the work. His dad would wait to get paid.

"I lost the million dollar account during the down market.

Today, George runs over $700 million in sales.

The difference? He learned the growth stages that kill most teams between 20-50 agents.

This is the roadmap nobody tells you about.

Andrew

— Andrew

Part I: Why Hiring Your Friend First Will Sabotage Your Team

Zero to 3 agents. Everyone makes the same mistake.

"We want to hire our friend. We want to have fun in the industry. But it's not complementary. It's not really going to help your business grow."

George's rule: Don't hire you. Hire what's complementary to you.

If you're a great producer, hire an assistant first. Not an agent. Not your buddy from college.

An assistant. A virtual assistant. Someone who builds the systems while you sell.

 Part II: The "Family" Mindset That Stops You at 10 Agents

8/10 agents. George calls this the family stage.

Everyone loves it. Close-knit team. Weekly meetings. Inside jokes. Great margins.

"We're in this together. We're partners."

Then George realized something:

"I had to change that inner narrative that we're a family. I had to change it to: we are partners in this business, and my job is to help you grow."

Part III: The "No Man's Land" Trap Between 20-50 Agents

This is where most teams die.

"From eight to 10 agents, you're gonna go backwards in income. But if you want to get out of production, you've got to get to 50."

George calls 20-25 agents "no man's land."

"It takes the same amount of staff to run 20 to 25 agents as it does to help manage 50. You don't want to stick there very long."

Part IV: What agents actually want:

→ A clear growth path (not just splits and leads)

→ Someone who sees their potential before they do

→ A leader who invests in their development

The Closing Loop

George keeps one habit sacred: curiosity.

When asked what he'd tell his kids about world-class leadership:

"Be curious. Ask really good questions. Help people get to self discovery and the roots of problems. Be a good communicator and stay curious."

The guy who almost quit after losing his biggest client now runs one of the largest teams in the industry.

Not because he avoided problems.

Because he learned to sleep good in a storm.

The distance between bankruptcy and $700 million?

One growth stage at a time. One better question. One more attempt when everyone else quits.

George's final truth:

"Leadership is not for the faint of heart."

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