Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur | Start and Grow Your Own Business 1248: The 100x Question That Will Break (and Remake) Your Business w/ Justin Wilhelms
Are you a successful business owner who feels stuck, overworked, and trapped in the day-to-day operations? This episode is your guide to breaking free. Fractional CEO Justin Wilhelms joins the show to reveal why many entrepreneurs hit a growth plateau and how to shatter it by stepping into the true CEO function. He explains that being a great practitioner isn't enough; you must build scalable systems and lead your people effectively. This episode is packed with value, as Justin introduces the "Working Genius" framework to help you identify the work that energizes you versus the work that drains you, transforming how you delegate, hire, and manage your time. Prepare to ask bigger questions and get the bigger answers your business needs to grow.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
- Discover the six types of work (Wonder, Invention, Discernment, Galvanizing, Enablement, Tenacity) and identify which two energize you, so you can stop doing tasks that lead to burnout.
- Learn how to structure your workweek to spend 60% of your time in your genius, 30% in your competency, and less than 10% in your frustrations for maximum energy and productivity.
- Learn how to stress-test your current processes by asking, "If my business were 100 times bigger, what would break?" This reveals your biggest bottlenecks to scale.
- Shift your mindset from trying to "fix" your weaknesses to strategically hiring people whose genius lies in the areas that drain you.
- Understand the power of servant leadership and why knowing how your team members best receive information is more critical than how you deliver it.
- Find out when and why bringing in a fractional CEO can be the key to getting your business over its first major growth plateau without the cost of a full-time executive.
📝 About Justin Wilhelms
Justin Wilhelms is a fractional CEO who specializes in helping small business owners break through their first major growth plateau. With a rich background in scaling a business in the water treatment space, Justin saw a common pattern: successful founders becoming the bottleneck to their own growth. He now works with entrepreneurs to build scalable foundational processes, improve efficiency, and develop a culture where everyone operates in their "working genius." Justin’s unique approach is built on asking big questions and empowering owners to transition from being a practitioner in every lane to a true visionary leader of their company.
🎯 Justin’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"If you know why you do what you do, why your goals are, what they are, why your business exists, it's so much easier to feel proud of the decisions that you make."
📢 Memorable Quotes
- "When you start to look at your frustrations, that's a hiring point." – Justin Wilhelms
- "When you are serving your people, that's leading, right? You're not telling them what to do. You're not forcing people to do something different. You're literally going, 'where can I help lift you up?'" – Justin Wilhelms
- "That first plateau is where the owner is still necessary for the business to move forward. And that's not going to be a good long-term plan. You can't carry all that weight as an owner." – Justin Wilhelms
🔗 Links & Resources