Spent a lot of time around agents stuck at the same GCI for years, and it's rarely a lead gen problem. It's a role problem.

Most solo agents are doing four jobs at once: lead gen, showings, transaction coordination, and admin. The second you try to "build a team," you just hire someone to do the parts you don't like — and you're still the bottleneck because every deal still runs through you.

The agents who actually break through do it in a specific order:

1. Systemize before you hire. If your process only exists in your head, a new hire can't run it. Write down your buyer/seller workflow before you bring anyone on.

2. Hire the transaction coordinator before the buyer's agent. TC work is the highest-volume, lowest-leverage task you do. Free up 10+ hours/week before you even think about adding producers.

3. Your first buyer's agent should sell you. Not lead gen. Have them work your overflow and referrals first — proves the model works before you spend on ads for a team you can't yet support.

4. Track cost per transaction, not cost per lead. Solo agents obsess over lead cost. Team builders obsess over what it costs, all-in, to close one deal — because that's the number that tells you if the team math works.

None of this is exciting. It's also why most agents skip it and stay solo for 10 years instead of 2.

Curious what part people get stuck on most — systemizing, hiring the first TC, or knowing when they're actually ready to add a producer.