In a world obsessed with rapid growth, talking about building reputation before seeking profit can almost sound like heresy.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned through experience—through trial and error—it’s that reputation isn’t a secondary asset: it’s what sustains any business in the long run.
Profit can be achieved through a stroke of luck, a good campaign, a trend. But it’s reputation that keeps a company afloat when the landscape changes, when customers compare, when the competition tightens.
Reputation isn’t bought, it’s built.
Reputation is formed, silently, through everyday choices. In how you respond to a difficult customer. In the care taken with a delivery. In the consistency between what you promise and what you actually deliver.
And the most interesting thing is that it begins to be built long before the company grows. When few people are still watching. That’s when you define what will be remembered about your brand.
I’ve seen brilliant businesses collapse because they built revenue before trust. And I’ve seen others, slower at first, become solid references—precisely because they chose the more difficult path: ethical consistency.
Profit is a side effect of trust.
When someone buys from you for the first time, it might be out of curiosity, price, or impulse. But when they buy for the second, third, or fourth time… that’s reputation. It’s trust.
In my case, whenever I prioritized delivering more than agreed upon, even in small contracts, the return came later—in the form of referrals, invitations, partnerships. You can’t measure this precisely in Excel, but you can feel it in your cash flow over time.
The market responds to reputation with opportunities. Sometimes not as quickly as you’d like, but with a depth that’s worth more than a quick and fragile profit.
Too much haste creates dangerous shortcuts.
I understand the desire to make a profit quickly. Every business needs to breathe. But rushing the process too much can lead to decisions being made based solely on financial return, rather than principles.
I’ve seen companies lie in their ads, exaggerate promises, cut corners where they shouldn’t—all to increase margins. And it even worked for a while. But when their reputation took a hit, their profits turned to dust.
Shortcuts may seem harmless at first, but they cost them dearly down the road. And when the bill comes, no amount of brand reinvention can fix it.
Conclusion
I like to say that reputation is what people say about you when you’re not in the room. And believe me: that’s what keeps your business afloat when the numbers fluctuate.
Building reputation before profit doesn’t mean being romantic. It means understanding that sustainable profit comes as a consequence of a brand that inspires trust.
It’s not the quickest path, but it’s the surest. Because a company that builds trust becomes a benchmark. And benchmarks, sooner or later, always become results.
