For contractors, sustainable growth isn't about hiring more people — it's about keeping and aligning the right ones. The real risk isn't broad turnover; it's losing the key performers (management, office staff, lead technicians) whose decisions and leadership directly drive profitability and company value.

In this session, Chris Buttenham shows how contractors can design incentive structures that retain their best people, tie performance to growth targets, and build a culture of ownership — without giving up actual equity or control. By layering short-term incentives tied to profitability with longer-term rewards tied to company value, owners can turn their team into a leadership bench that runs the business and reduces owner dependency.

Chris addresses three common goals — growing aggressively, stepping back from daily operations, or simply keeping options open — and shows how the right mix of incentives supports any path forward. You'll leave understanding the incentive types built for independent contractors, how to design plans that actually change behavior, and what the data says about their real impact on business outcomes.