Most agency leaders I talk to right now have the same growth plan: survive the cost environment, then expand once things stabilize. It's an understandable instinct. Labor costs are up. Insurance is up. Overhead in general is up. Nearly two-thirds of agencies expect these pressures to actively choke growth in the year ahead. The instinct is to wait it out. Here's the problem with waiting: rising costs aren't the only thing choking growth, and treating them as the only variable