This Founder's 'Favorite' Interview Question Only Has 1 Right Answer Stephen Smith built Planet Beach and Hotworx into franchises with hundreds of locations by honing his ability to suss out hard workers.

Some people dream of being an entrepreneur. Others actually become one. So what separates the two? "The difference is the level of self-discipline and commitment," says Stephen Smith, a former champion bodybuilder and serial entrepreneur. "That's what it takes."

Smith has both, and he's needed it. His first franchise was a tanning salon called Planet Beach, and he grew it to hundreds of locations — until the foundations of the business changed, and he couldn't recover. (More on that below!) But instead of quitting, he channeled those lessons into a new franchise: It's called Hotworx, a fast-growing fitness brand that now has more than 730 locations in the U.S., Ireland, and the Middle East.

Hotworx combines two hot activities: sauna and fitness classes. Users choose between 30-minute isometric sessions and 15-minute high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts, both conducted in specially designed infrared saunas. The idea is to promote detoxification and rapid calorie burn, while building muscle and flexibility.

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Here, Smith talks about coming back from crises and how to make the most of a big idea.

What happened with your first franchise?

Planet Beach grew to nearly 400 locations around 2007, at its peak. Then the financial crisis happened in 2008 and started the decline of the industry and the brand. In 2010, a federal excise tax was passed by Congress on tanning. Ten percent of all indoor tanning services had to pay into that, and still have to. So that put the nail in the coffin.

How did you move forward?

That sent me into the Dark Ages of my career as an entrepreneur. Then, in 2014, I started doing Bikram yoga. I was traveling, and an exercise physiologist friend suggested doing yoga in a sauna. It was the proverbial light-bulb moment for me

How quickly did you start working on your idea for Hotworx?

I went right back to New Orleans and started working on a design. We spent about 10 months getting a prototype to market and have not changed the dimensions or basic design since. When you recognize an opportunity as an entrepreneur, you do what it takes to get spectacular results.

What is the biggest challenge in scaling Hotworx?

It's leadership at the unit level — finding the right location managers. The last two or three years have been tough to recruit talent. They don't have to be an all-star gymnast or former NFL player, but they need the athletic mentality, an attitude of being hungry to succeed. One of my favorite questions to ask candidates is to rate their work ethic on a scale of 1 to 10. If they don't say, "I'm a 10," it's a no.

What's a lesson you learned that other entrepreneurs looking to innovate should know?

You're not going to have everything perfect, but don't launch unless you feel like your product is stellar. Think hard in the beginning, because it all starts with the product. You don't have anything if you don't have a good product.

What do you need to be successful in franchising?

Having passion is not enough. You need the self-discipline to go out and execute. You learn from athletics what it takes to win; a lot of it boils down to that discipline. You might have a great group as a team, but if you can't be coached to have the discipline, you're not going to succeed.

What do you see as the biggest challenge to the fitness industry in 2025?

Overzealous expansion, premature IPOs, and the continued lack of attention paid by franchisors to the profitability of their franchisees. There's smart, scaled growth, as opposed to just going all out and suddenly, at the end of the year, you've got 100 more franchises — but 50 [of those] people shouldn't even be franchisees.

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