How To Start A Nutrition Business: Tips From a Nutrition Business Expert
Learning how to start a nutrition business can definitely feel overwhelming and confusing. There’s a million things on your to-do list like registering your business, creating your logo, designing your website, and the list goes on and on.
It’s no wonder that when it comes time to finally starting your business, you have no idea where to begin! And if you listen to the advice of everyone online, you’ll hear 10 different versions of what you should or shouldn’t focus on first.
When I first started my nutrition business back in 2014, I definitely felt overwhelmed and confused with where to start. I knew my stuff when it came to nutrition and helping clients, but I had no idea how to actually get started.
It took me almost a year of troubleshooting to figure out where I should be spending my time and energy in my nutrition business.
But when I figured things out, I was able to book consistent nutrition clients, get referrals from other practitioners, run monthly workshops, and feel more confident in my skills every day.
I want to share that with you now so you can save yourself from the late-night googling sessions.
Let’s chat about how to start a nutrition business, without the overwhelm!
Launch Your Nutrition Biz is my self-paced online course to help you start your nutrition business and sign your first paying clients.
Inside Launch Your Nutrition Biz, you’ll get support with:
Entrepreneurial skills
Business fundamentals
Choosing your niche
How to work with nutrition clients
Creating your nutrition programs
Starting your email list and creating an irresistible freebie
Creating your website
Marketing your nutrition business
Signing your first paying nutrition clients
Learn more about Launch Your Nutrition Biz here!
My top steps for starting a nutrition business are:
Identifying your business vision
The first thing you’ll want to do when first starting out is put pen to paper and get really clear on the vision for your nutrition business. Now’s the time to dream and really envision where you see yourself and your business in the future!
Having a clear intention on the why for your business helps to give you direction, purpose and most importantly helps you to attract the right people to your community.
Step 1: Start by getting clear on why you want to start a nutrition business to begin with and what you absolutely love learning about and talking about. Think about the skills that you possess as an individual and how you could see those skills supporting you inside of your business.
For example, if you’re great at making friends and connections, think about ways you can bring this into your business like using this skill to network with others or focus on a word-of-mouth based business.Step 2: Also take some time to dream big! What do you see other successful nutritionists out there accomplishing that you’d like to accomplish yourself? Maybe that’s running a group program, cultivating a strong community on social media, or creating an online program that sells while you sleep.
There are SO many business opportunities for nutritionists, get the full list of my nutrition business ideas now!
The sky's the limit when it comes to dreaming up the vision for your business, so don’t hold back!
Setting yourself up for success
I remember when I graduated, I was so excited to start working with clients, but quickly realized that I had no idea how to actually run a business! I had never kept track of business finances before or created a work schedule for myself, and I wasn’t sure where to start.
The first thing I recommend doing when starting your nutrition business is scheduling work sessions in your calendar. This way, you’re taking things seriously and putting dedicated time aside to get things done. One way I love to do this is by time blocking.
Time Blocking
Time blocking is when you choose a task to focus on for your day and focus only on that one thing.
So this could look like focusing on scheduling out your social media posts on Monday’s, working on your website on Tuesday’s, and so on. This way you are giving yourself dedicated focus time without thinking about the 101 tasks that you need to get done.
On that note, breaking things down into actionable steps is key!
2. Breaking Things Down
Instead of writing “design my website” on your to-do list, break this down into steps like “sign up for my domain”, “pick my website template”, “create my homepage”. This will help you take action on your tasks so much faster and more efficiently!
Instead of writing “design my website” on your to-do list, break this down into steps like “sign up for my domain”, “pick my website template”, “create my homepage”. This will help you take action on your tasks so much faster and more efficiently!
Mastering your mindset
One of the most important things you can master when first starting out is your mindset around running a business. Most of us don’t even realize that we are business owners, because we only see ourselves as a nutritionist. Don’t let this trip you up!
If you’re serious about making nutrition your business, it’s key to start seeing yourself as a business owner first, and a nutritionist second.
Learning how to support yourself through the ups and downs of running your own business is so important and will help you to stick with your business long-term.
Make sure you keep yourself in check when it comes to comparing yourself to others, and remember that every successful nutritionist that you see out there had to start at step one too!
Finding a support system, like other nutritionists also starting their business, can be a huge help! Share your wins, struggles and ideas with them, and you’ll find that you always have a built in support system by your side.
Registering your business
When it comes to starting your nutrition business, there are some key foundational pieces that need to be set up in order to run your business legitimately. These may vary slightly if you choose to start an online nutrition business vs. run an in-person practice.
One of the things you will need to check off your to-do list is registering your business name and business model in your province or state, either as a sole-proprietor or corporation. There are definitely important factors to consider when picking your business model, so make sure you consult with a lawyer or accountant when setting this piece up.
A few more things you’ll want to set up after registering your business are:
Practice insurance
Domain address (your www._______.com)
Professional email address (my favourites are hello@ or support@)
Your financial tracking system (a simple spreadsheet, Quickbooks, etc.)
Working with Clients
When it comes to working with your nutrition clients, we want to make sure that the process for booking them in, having them pay for your services, and sending them their intake forms is a seamless process.
The last thing we want to do is to confuse your clients, so let’s make sure that we can automate and streamline as many processes in your nutrition business as possible!
Here’s a list of potential documents you’ll need to work with your client:
Client intake form
Client contract
Medical disclaimer
Food and Mood journal
Client handouts
One program that I highly recommend every single nutritionist uses is Practice Better. Practice Better is an all-in-one client management platform that allows you to schedule your client in, accept payment, send forms (they include templates too!), communicate with your clients and so much more.
Bonus points is that Practice Better was created BY a nutritionist, so you know that this program has everything you need to run a successful practice.
Developing your coaching skills
It’s one thing to sign a nutrition client (yay!), but it’s an entirely different thing to provide a really incredible experience for your clients once they start working with you.
This means that not only do we need to spend time setting up our business foundation for success, we also need to think through the client on-boarding process to make things seamless and enjoyable for the client.
Something you can do to make your client’s experience incredible are:
Be very upfront and clear with expectations between yourself and your client in your first session
Start your session with some “housekeeping”
Communicate to the client any important information about your sessions
Let your client know where they can access any important documents
Be clear on how your client can connect with you in-between sessions
Share any other important details that would be helpful for them to know and aid in their success!
This initial conversation will help your client to understand what the entire process of working with you will look like and give them the confidence to reach out and ask questions throughout your time together.
In fact, bonus points if you communicate to your client what they should do if they run into a roadblock during your time together and give them instructions on how to reach out if they need help.
At the end of the day, you and your client are on the same team, so make sure they feel 100% supported during your time together!
Choosing Your Niche
One thing we want to determine as early on as possible when starting your nutrition business is your niche.
Whether you’re starting an online nutrition business or planning to work 1:1 with clients in person, your niche is essentially the focus for your business and the group of people you want to serve with your nutrition programs and offers.
This means that instead of trying to support every person with their health, and in turn possibly burn yourself out trying to learn everything about every topic, you will become an expert in one topic.
This helps you to become a go-to nutritionist within your niche and a better referral magnet!
Niching down essentially helps you become a big fish in a small pond.
There are a number of profitable niches that you can choose from, but my advice is to ask yourself the following questions to find the right fit for you:
What do I know best?
What nutrition topic can I talk about all day?
Who do I want to help?
What is the problem I want to solve?
Setting up your nutrition programs and pricing
Creating a nutrition program and offer that helps your client reach their health goals is key, and this means that the one-off nutrition sessions have got to go!
The truth is, it’s hard to help your clients reach their goals in one session, and what tends to happen is that you load your client up with so much information in one session that they have no idea where to start.
To help your client get long-lasting results and support, consider creating a longer nutrition program or package!
This would include multiple sessions over a period of time, with support between sessions, so that your client is feeling like they are reaching their goals and making positive progress in their health.
Here are 3 ways to create your nutrition programs:
1. Nutrition Package - this is where you will bundle up a few nutrition sessions vs. only offering a one-off session. You can include an initial health intake and a few follow up sessions to support the client with implementing your health recommendations.
2. Monthly Program - this is where you will set a timeline for how long you will work with your nutrition client and include a number of nutrition sessions and support within that timeframe. This could look like a 1, 3 or 6 month nutrition program. The big difference between a nutrition package and a monthly program is that in the monthly program, you can include support and check-ins between your sessions.
3. Signature Program - this is my favourite recommendation for how you can provide support to your clients, as a signature program has client transformation in mind. This is a program that is directly related to your niche, and helps to take your client from A to B during your time together.
This could look like a 3-month hormone balancing program, an 8-week acne protocol, or a 16-week gut healing program.
The main thing that sets your signature program apart from the other nutrition program offerings is that it is specific to your niche, provides a transformation, and you can repeat the program with client after client.
No more re-inventing the wheel every time you work with a new client!
Another thing you’ll want to do is set a price for your program!
When setting your prices, think about:
How many clients you can work with monthly
How much you need to make monthly
How much your business expenses cost monthly
How many hours you’ll be spending with your client inside your program and what your hourly rate is
Remember that you can always raise your prices after you have more experience working with clients! My recommendation is to price a bit lower when first starting out and raise your prices within a few months of seeing your first clients.
Curious how much money you can make as a Nutritionist?
Read this blog post.
Getting clients
This is the fun part that you’ve been waiting for - finally working with a nutrition client!
Now, my advice would be to not get discouraged if as soon as you open your doors, clients don’t come rushing in. Believe me, I went through this myself when I launched my own nutrition business and felt super discouraged when I wasn’t booked with clients immediately.
But it takes time to build up your client base and potential clients need to hear about who you are and what you do, in order to know if working with you is the right fit for them.
With the right foundation in place, you can definitely speed up the process of signing your first clients!
You’ve worked so hard behind-the-scenes getting your business up and running, and now it’s time to get visible! This means putting yourself out there, talking about who you are, who you help aka your niche, and how you help people through your nutrition programs.
Here are a few ways to get clients as a nutritionist:
Run a free workshop
Host a 3-7 day nutrition challenge
Run a giveaway
Ask your friends/family to share about your business
Be consistent on social media and share about your program
Start working with practice clients and collect testimonials
Get support with building your business inside
Launch Your Nutrition Biz
Looking for a step-by-step online course to help you start your nutrition business while you’re still in school? Launch Your Nutrition Biz is my self-paced online course to help you start your nutrition business and sign your first paying clients.
Inside Launch Your Nutrition Biz, you’ll get support with:
Entrepreneurial skills (hint: you won’t learn this in nutrition school)
Business fundamentals
How to choose your niche
How to work with your nutrition clients
Creating your nutrition programs
Starting your email list and creating an irresistible freebie
Creating your website
Marketing your nutrition business
The best part? You get lifetime access to the entire online course, so you can go through it at your own pace while you’re still in school and keep coming back to it again and again.
Learn more about Launch Your Nutrition Biz here!
Marketing your nutrition business
Consistently marketing your business now becomes one of your main focuses after getting the foundation of your business set up. This means showing up consistently and posting on social media, sending emails to your list, creating educational content like blog posts, podcasts or videos to nurture your community, and more.
Getting in front of your niche and ideal clients every day (or as often as possible!) is your goal, so that you’re top of mind when they’re ready to take the leap and finally work with a nutritionist.
One big shift that you can make is realizing that you are a business owner and marketer 80% of the time and a nutritionist 20% of the time.
This shift will help you to prioritize spending time ON your business, not just IN your business. Instead of spending all of your time behind a computer screen creating client handouts and protocols, now’s the time to put yourself out of your comfort zone.
Here are a few ways to market yourself consistently:
Get comfortable with showing up on video
Create educational social media posts that highlight your expertise
Be a guest on someone else’s podcast or try out guest blogging
Reach out to other practitioners and set up a referral system
Start an email list
Don’t worry - you don’t have to try all of these marketing methods at once! Start with trying one out first and see how things go!
Connecting with other like-minded entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurship can feel like a rollercoaster at times, with lots of ups and downs! But, you don’t have to go through it alone.
Make sure you reach out to other nutritionists who are building their businesses, other entrepreneurs who are one step ahead of you, and mentors that know what you’re going through because they’ve been there before, too!
It’s ok to ask for help, in fact, getting support while you build your nutrition business is the key to being successful!
Every successful entrepreneur knows that you can’t build your empire by doing it all on your own, so there’s no need to feel like you need to take everything on yourself without help.
Reach out to others, invest in yourself and your business, delegate tasks that you don’t need to be doing yourself, and surround yourself with a support system.
Need More Support With Starting Your Nutrition Business?
There you have it! You now know how to start a successful nutrition business and sign your first clients by following the steps in this post and start putting things into action.
Take things step by step and remember that this is a journey! You’ve got this!
Get support with building your nutrition business inside Launch Your Nutrition Biz
Looking for a step-by-step online course to help you start your nutrition business without the overwhelm?
Launch Your Nutrition Biz is my self-paced online course to help you start your nutrition business and sign your first paying clients!
Inside Launch Your Nutrition Biz, you’ll get support with:
Entrepreneurial skills
Business fundamentals
Choosing your niche
How to work with nutrition clients
Creating your nutrition programs
Starting your email list and creating an irresistible freebie
Creating your website
Marketing your nutrition business
Signing your first paying nutrition clients
Learn more about Launch Your Nutrition Biz here!
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