Episodios

  • 65: Hyrox: Answer these 6 questions before adding it to your gym.

    65: Hyrox: Answer these 6 questions before adding it to your gym.
    Mar 4 2025
    In this episode I explore whether gym owners should add Hyrox training to their fitness business, by unpacking six key questions to help decide if it’s the right strategic fit. 6 things you’ll learn in this episode How to assess whether Hyrox actually solves a meaningful problem for your specific target market.Why understanding your gym’s USP is critical before adding new programs like Hyrox.How offering too many services can dilute your positioning and weaken your brand.The importance of being either 10 times better or meaningfully different when competing in crowded fitness trends.How to spot hidden opportunities by zigging when other gyms are zagging.The risks of aligning your gym’s brand with external brands like Hyrox, and how that can impact your reputation long-term. TRANSCRIPTION: Gym owners are always looking for the next big thing. That thing that can add a couple of zeros to the bottom line of their bank statements. So when Hyrox came along, a lot of gym owners saw dollar signs. Here was a global fitness movement that has captured the attention of both recreational exercisers and pro athletes. If you’ve been living under a rock, Hyrox is basically a cross between a fun run for people who get bored easily, an obstacle course race for people who don’t like getting mud in their hair, and a CrossFit competition for people who can’t walk on their hands. This is a movement that is expected to reach almost 500,000 participants this year, across 85 events in 26 countries. There are around 5,000 affiliated gyms worldwide. For gym owners, the barrier to entry is really low. Most, if not all gyms already have all the equipment needed to offer their clients and members the Hyrox experience. The initial financial outlay is virtually non existent. But here’s an interesting observation. If you look at a map of Hyrox Gyms, a lot of the 5,000 gyms listed as offering Hyrox are actually CrossFit Gyms, F45s, or other existing ‘functional fitness’ businesses. With astronomical growth numbers, and this low barrier to entry, it almost seems like a no-brainer that you should consider adding Hyrox training to your service offerings. But there’s a pattern that repeats time and time again in businesses that are easy to start. Because people don’t have to work hard or invest heavily to set them up, and because the hurdles to clear are so low, there’s very little filtering. There’s nothing to keep out and protect the people who maybe aren’t cut out to run a business like that. And that means everyone gets to play. And things start to get pretty crowded. It’s like the PT industry. It’s getting easier and easier to become a qualified PT. And the rates of people leaving the industry are getting higher and higher. I’ve spoken about ways to pivot your fitness business before, in episode 48 of The Business of Fitness Podcast, 9 ways to pivot your fitness business to earn more (read the article here). So it got me thinking, is there a filter we can apply to Hyrox to help you decide whether it’s a smart business move for you? So before jumping aboard the Hyrox train, there are the six questions you should be able to answer ‘yes’ to. Let’s run through them and unpack each one. Question 1: Does Hyrox solve a problem your avatar has better than the solution you’re already providing? Every single successful business on earth solves a problem. Coca Cola solves thirst. Disney solves boredom. Amazon solves lack of time to shop. And each of these businesses has a very clearly defined avatar who they solve this problem for. And your business should too. Without thinking about it, you should be able to clearly and easily complete the sentence ‘My business helps [type of person you help] to [problem you solve]. For example. My business helps over 60s build stronger bones. My business helps isolated mums build healthy social connections. My business helps skinny blokes build bigger muscles. If you can’t complete this sentence for your business, you’ve got a bigger problem than whether or not to introduce Hyrox. Start by working out who you’re for and how you help them. The type of person you target is called your avatar, and how you solve their problem is called your value proposition. But let’s say you can complete the sentence. You know who you’re for, and the problem you solve for them. And this brings us back to the first question you need to be able to answer ‘yes’ to, ‘does Hyrox solve a problem your avatar has better than the solution you’re already providing?’. Dumping your current avatar and disregarding their needs isn’t a smart business move. It’s like McDonalds deciding to stop selling burgers to their loyal clientele of convenience-chasing Big Mac lovers, and instead switching to pizza. Their customers simply don’t want pizza. It doesn’t solve their problem. You shouldn’t switch to Hyrox because it’s trending, you should switch because it’s ...
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    31 m
  • 64: We Asked 8 Experts: Is ChatGPT now better at programming than you are?

    64: We Asked 8 Experts: Is ChatGPT now better at programming than you are?
    Feb 25 2025
    Download the PDF accompanying this article. Summary: In this episode I ask eight experts to rate the quality of ChatGPT generated training programs. I explore how AI-driven programming frees up hours for PTs by automating routines, preserving personal style, and allowing you to shift your focus to empathy and human connection. 5 things you’ll learn in this episode How to use ChatGPT prompts to create programs for a wide range of fitness goals.Ways to systemise programming to make your work more time efficient.How you can balance AI collaboration with your personal coaching voice.Techniques to preserve your unique style and ensure the highest quality of programs for your clients.The importance of human connection and soft skills in an AI-driven programming future. Download the PDF accompanying this article. TRANSCRIPTION: One of the biggest uses of time for a PT, gym owner or online coach is programming. The problem is, all the hours we spend programming doesn’t actually get us anywhere. It doesn’t move our business forward. I’m not saying it’s not important – because it really is. I’m saying that this type of work would be classified as working ‘in’ your business. It’s something you need to do as a bare minimum to keep your head above water. Like replying to emails or invoicing, it’s a non negotiable to be able to serve your clients and members. And because it’s a non negotiable, it’s not something you can eliminate from your monthly task list. For a previous episode of The Business of Fitness Podcast, I tracked every minute of work time for a year. So many of the business owners I mentor spend WAY too much time on programming. One of my recommendations that came out of this was around what we should aim to do with the time where we’re doing unbillable hours, working in the business. Programming fits in this category. In that episode of the podcast, I said: ‘For this use of time, we want to build systems to automate the tasks in this category as much as possible. There is no direct financial return for the hours we spend working in the business, so we obviously want to turn the dial down here. The asterisk on this is that no one should be able to tell we’re spending less time on admin. The whole point of systemisation is to be able to automate processes so they are still done as well as, or actually probably better than they would be if you were grinding through each individual step yourself.’ So how do we do that for programming? I wondered, can we use an AI agent like ChatGPT to create programs that are even better than what we could do ourselves – without losing our unique programming style and philosophies, and the personal voice that only we can bring to programming? I’ve done an episode of The Business of Fitness Podcast previously where I interviewed ChatGPT, but now I want to focus on programming. I spoke with eight of Australia’s leading health and fitness professionals – each an expert in their field, to get their opinion on the quality of AI generated exercise programs. Now before you disregard using AI to help write exercise programs, let me make one very important point around using AI for programming (or using AI for anything really). It’s the concept of ‘garbage in, garbage out’. This is a computer science phrase that basically means if you write poor quality code, you get a poor quality program. Think of it like an elite athlete fuelling their body with junk food. If you use poor quality fuel, you get poor quality performance. When we’re talking about using ChatGPT for programming, the ‘garbage in’ refers to bad prompts. If you use specific, detailed, well constructed and well constrained prompts, you’ll be amazed at the world class quality of the programs you can create. It’s important to note – ChatGPT is not doing the programming for you. It’s doing it with you. It’s a collaboration between you and AI to produce a higher quality program for your clients. Your role changes from being a solo programmer, to being a prompt engineer who uses your knowledge of exercise science to work in collaboration with technology. You’ll see I go pretty deep into some exercise science in the prompt examples I’m going to share – it just shows that it helps to know how to drive if you’re behind the wheel of a supercar – otherwise it won’t perform like it can. Until recently, I didn’t feel like ChatGPT was advanced enough to offer the quality of programs that our clients need and deserve. But with recent upgrades, that has all changed. I’ve used ChatGPT o1 which was released in December 2024. This is an updated version of GPT-4o that has an improved capacity for complex tasks and logical reasoning. So I’ve engineered some ChatGPT prompts to help us explore the power of AI as a collaborative programming partner. The potential of this is almost limitless, and growing by the day, but for this example, let’s look at...
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    50 m
  • 63: 10 ways to ensure your side hustle idea will make $50k.

    63: 10 ways to ensure your side hustle idea will make $50k.
    Feb 5 2025
    Summary: This episode uncovers the ten key questions every fitness business professional should ask to evaluate their side-hustle ideas, boosting the chances of success while minimising risk. 5 things you’ll learn in this episode: How urgency can determine the immediate success of your fitness side hustle.Why narrowing down your market size can help you attract paying clients faster.How pricing potential and client acquisition costs affect long-term profitability.The importance of creating a unique offer and protecting it from being easily copied.How to test and rank multiple ideas before committing time and resources. You’ve probably got a great idea for a ‘fitness side hustle’. It’s part of your pursuit of multiple income streams as a fitness professional. And I’m all for it. I think it’s a great idea in the health and fitness industry, where the badge of ‘fitnesspreneur’ is displayed proudly. And I know you’ve got no shortage of ideas. I know, because I’m the same. I call them ‘projects’ – side quests from your primary income stream. But all these ideas leads to one big problem… which one to choose? The biggest mistake I see people making when launching a new project is that they simply launch the first half decent idea they think of and try to turn it into a business. But honestly, what are the chances it will work? Out of the thousands and thousands of ideas you’ll have in the next few years, what are the chances that the very first idea will be the one that gives you that financial freedom you’ve always dreamed of? Tiny. The chances are tiny. Just like the chances of throwing a dart at a dartboard and hitting the bullseye on your very first attempt. The best way to hit the bullseye is to throw more darts. Throw 100 darts, and you’ll probably hit the centre with one of them. But what if we could increase the size of the bullseye? What if you could test your business idea before launching it (before even building it) to grow the bullseye and increase the chance of success. What if you could rank the potential of your ideas so you know which ones are most likely to succeed? Well you can, and you can do it by asking ten simple questions before you spend any time or money on turning that idea into a business. In his book, The Personal MBA, Josh Kaufman gives us ten ways to evaluate a market. I’ve adapted these into ten questions a fitness business owner can ask to tip the odds of success in their favour. I’ve spoken about this book before, in an episode of The Business of Fitness Podcast called ‘The only 5 reasons your fitness business is failing‘ (you can also read the article here). Let’s look at these ten questions, and give a few examples from the fitness industry to help to understand how we can apply them. Question 1: Urgency. How urgent is the need for the service you’re providing? If the level of urgency is high, your business will experience success sooner. And for something that’s starting as a side-hustle, immediate success is really important because it gives you the feedback you need to turn this idea into something bigger. A treatment program for diabetes or osteoporosis has a high level of urgency. So does a body transformation program for brides-to-be, or a pre-season sports program. A gym membership catering to general population isn’t as urgent. Question 2: Market size. How big is your potential market? This is an interesting one, because generally speaking, the bigger the market, the more people who will pay you money. But if you make the common mistake of trying to create a service for everyone, you’ll find it’s too general and not actually specific enough to solve a narrow problem and attract paying clients. But you do need to make sure your market is big enough to sustain your idea. Short, high intensity small group exercise classes run at lunch time in the CBD have a large potential market. Those same classes in a small country town don’t. Question 3: Pricing potential. How much are people prepared to pay for your service? So many of the business owners I mentor come to me with business ideas, but they collapse when you actually run the numbers. Many ideas just aren’t financially viable. If people aren’t prepared to pay enough money, the return on effort will be so low that you’re better off trying a different idea. An intensive and all-inclusive exercise, heath and nutrition coaching program in high earning suburbs will attract a high price point. But people will pay a lot loss for an access-based gym membership. Question 4: Cost of client acquisition. What does it cost to acquire new clients? This is a big one. Generally, if your business attracts more customers, it will be successful. But attracting customers will cost you time, money and effort. After school exercise classes on the school’s oval for secondary school students will have a low acquisition cost. On the other hand, trying to ...
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    16 m
  • 62: How to create a strategic plan for 2025

    62: How to create a strategic plan for 2025
    Jan 25 2025

    Download the 2025 Fitness Business Strategic Plan here.

    In this episode, Dan explores how to review your fitness business for 2024 and strategically plan for a stronger and more successful 2025 using a step-by-step framework and workbook.

    5 Things You’ll Learn in This Episode:
    • How to assess the impact your business has on your life and make adjustments for improvement.
    • A method to align your time usage with your top business priorities and avoid pseudo-productivity.
    • The importance of SWOT analysis and how it identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in your business.
    • How to design a perfect week that balances business success with personal fulfilment.
    • Strategies for pre-empting business challenges through a pre-mortem and using the 4 E’s framework to prioritise ideas.

    Download the 2025 Fitness Business Strategic Plan here.
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    18 m
  • 61: I tracked every minute of work time for a year. Here’s what I learned.

    61: I tracked every minute of work time for a year. Here’s what I learned.
    Jan 13 2025
    Five things you'll learn in this episode: How tracking every minute of work can transform your time management and life quality.The importance of balancing billable and non-billable hours for business and personal success.How to optimise your work schedule for deep, meaningful productivity.Strategies to increase your hourly rate while reducing overall working hours.Why time is your most valuable resource and how to prioritise it effectively. Episode transcript: In 2024 I worked for 1,433 hours and 25 minutes, averaging 27.5 hours a week over six different task types. This is my review of that year of work, and the lessons we can all take from it. But before we talk time, let’s talk about money. Tracking your finances is a non-negotiable for building a financially successful business. You should at least be tracking revenue, expenditure and profit from your business, and business health metrics like number of enquiries, number of new clients, client departures, and overall growth rate. But you know that. And money isn’t the only asset you’re trading in. You’re also trading in time. When your business is young, you’re time rich but money poor – you use your time to earn money. When your business is more mature, you’re money rich but time poor – you should use your money to buy back your time. The management consultant, Peter Drucker, told us, ‘What gets measured, gets managed’, and I wanted to better manage my time – knowing that how I spend my time is a direct influence on the quality of my life. So for every day of 2024, I tracked every minute of work I did. The results were pretty revealing, so I’d like to dig into the numbers. But first, some background info to give you a bit of context to better understand the numbers. First and foremost, I’m a Dad and a Husband. I’ve got two little girls, who in 2024 were four and two. Our four year old was in Kindy three days a week, our two year old is with us full time – with some really valuable support from the grandparents. We’ve never used daycare. My wife is a Director in a very successful Employee Relations and HR Consultancy. I work two full days a week, and two half days. That leaves me with three full days and two half days per week with my kids. Hopefully this bias of my time towards my family will tell you what my values are and where my priorities lie. This arrangement didn’t happen by accident. This is my 19th year as a business owner, and it hasn’t always been so ‘balanced’. In the early years I was working seven days a week. The hard work through my 20s and early 30s is what earned me the freedom I now have. Three years before we were planning to have kids, I intentionally re-engineered my business to ensure I could be the best Dad I could be. I’m now benefitting from that planning. We have a two week holiday every Christmas, and do four two night mini-holidays a year. I also take three ‘deload weeks’ per year, where I don’t do any client facing work, but focus on business development, writing, and any other little ‘non business side projects’ I’ve been thinking about (like writing a series of children’s books to help instil the values we believe are most important in our kids). I do my absolute best to make my time with the girls as intentional as possible. They do organised gymnastics classes, swimming lessons, rock climbing and dance, plus all the other stuff little girls do. I’m proud to be heavily involved in all this. At risk of gender stereotyping, half the week, I’m a ‘stay-at-home-mum’. And I love it. Two of my highlights of 2024 were teaching our four year old to ride a bike, and being in the water for swimming lessons with our two year old. My wife works three days a week, but also works a lot in the evenings. She’s the heart of our family, and is completely and utterly extraordinary as a mum, wife and business person. I currently run three main businesses, with a few side projects here and there. Check out episode 53 of The Business of Fitness Podcast ‘The four Es. A framework to build fitness businesses’ to learn about how I manage my businesses and projects. The first business is Range of Motion, a vehicle for my face to face Exercise Physiology and Coaching work. We have a 300sqm facility in Osborne Park, Perth. I work one-on-one with NDIS participants who rebate the cost of their consults through the NDIS. My rate for these is $167 an hour, and I do about five hours of this a week. My Personal Coaching sees me working primarily two or three on one with clients, where I earn $240 an hour for five hours a week. We also had long-term subleases set up with around 15 businesses and sole traders in 2024. The second business is my main source of income, Dan Williams Business Consulting, where I mentor business owners. I cap this service at 30 businesses at a time, and usually have a waiting list. My hourly income here is $280 an hour, though I do spend a lot of time ...
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    28 m
  • 60: The 12 business books to read in 2025

    60: The 12 business books to read in 2025
    Dec 30 2024

    For this episode of The Business of Fitness Podcast, Dan has created a 12 book reading list for 2025. One book each month that will have massive impact on your fitness business.
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    12 m
  • 59: The only 5 reasons your fitness business is failing

    59: The only 5 reasons your fitness business is failing
    Dec 15 2024

    Here are the five things you'll learn from this episode of The Business of Fitness Podcast:

    1. The five essential objectives every fitness business must meet to succeed.
    2. Why failing to create value turns your business into a hobby.
    3. How ineffective marketing leads to your business becoming a flop.
    4. The risks of undercharging and failing to deliver value.
    5. Why profitability is the ultimate measure of a sustainable fitness business.
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    8 m
  • 58: How to grow a fitness business WITHOUT more clients/members

    58: How to grow a fitness business WITHOUT more clients/members
    Dec 1 2024

    If you’re like a lot of fitness business owners, you’re probably asking the wrong question when it comes to growing and scaling a successful business.

    And this wrong question might just be sabotaging your business and dooming it to failure without you even knowing it.

    The wrong question is…

    ‘How do I get more clients?’

    In this episode, Dan Williams reveals the question you should be asking to truly achieve business success.

    Here are the five things you'll learn from this episode of The Business of Fitness Podcast:

    1. Why 'How do I get more clients?' is the wrong question to ask.
    2. The power of using 'five whys' to uncover the root problem in your business.
    3. Alternative strategies to increase profit without simply adding more clients.
    4. How 'satisficing' might be holding your business back.
    5. Why defining a 'full and good life' is essential for business success.
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    7 m