The First 5 decisions every new freelance nutritionist or dietitian must make to build a successful nutrition business

Starting out as a new freelance nutritionist or freelance dietitian can feel overwhelming. The likelihood is your studying and training taught you all about nutrition theory and clinical knowledge, but didn’t teach you how to run a business.

If you’re feeling confused about where to start, you’re not alone. This is something our founder Lucy Jones RNutr remembers incredibly well. Now, with over 4 years of freelance experience, Lucy has learned first-hand what truly makes a difference when building a successful freelance nutrition business.

In this blog, we’re sharing the five key decisions Lucy recommends every new freelance nutritionist or dietitian makes early on to avoid confusion, save time, and build a business that actually earns you a liveable income.

Decision 1: Who you help, as a freelance nutritionist

When you’re starting out, it’s tempting to say you help everyone. After all, you don’t want to turn away potential clients. However, trying to appeal to everyone often leads to diluted messaging.

One day you might be talking about weight loss, the next about menopause, and the day after sports nutrition. Whilst this shows your vast knowledge, it can make it harder for potential clients to quickly understand what you’re the “go to” expert in.

When someone is looking for support, they’re more likely to choose a nutritionist or dietitian who feels like a specialist, rather than a generalist.

By choosing a specific area or type of client, you can create clearer, more consistent messaging. For example, Lucy focuses on helping women going through the menopause transition to lose weight. You won’t find her posting about unrelated topics, and that clarity makes it easier for the right clients to recognise her expertise, and in turn reach out for help.

This is known as niching, and it helps potential clients quickly understand who you help and what you’re the expert in.

Decision 2: The problem you solve

It’s easy to think that when you’re talking about your services you just need to list that you offer X appointments. But clients aren’t looking to buy 5 appointments with you. They’re looking for a solution to their problem.

When you clearly communicate the problem you solve, marketing your services becomes much easier. Let’s compare the two statements below:

·      I offer five nutrition appointments

·      I help women going through perimenopause and menopause to lose unwanted weight

If you were a woman struggling with weight gain during menopause, which message would feel more enticing to you?

Decision 3: Your offer

Once you know who you’re helping and the problem you solve, you need to have a clear offer to suit this.

Think about what’s needed in order to solve the problem. How many appointments are needed and how often? Are there any other resources that are needed along the way? Don’t just include something in your service if it’s not needed. Every element of your service should have a clear purpose and contribute to the transformation you’re offering.

Decision 4: Your pricing

One of the biggest mistakes new freelance nutritionists and dietitians make is pricing themselves based on another nutritionist or dietitian they admire.

Instead, base your pricing on the value of the transformation you offer, your business costs, and how much you need to earn to make a living.

Inside The Freelance Nutritionist Collective, we have a Pricing and Payments guide which outlines the formula we recommend to price your services to create financial security in your freelance nutrition business.

Decision 5: How you’ll get clients

It’s tempting to rush into marketing without a clear strategy. This often looks like posting on every platform, burning out quickly, and becoming inconsistent.

Instead, choose 1-2 methods to market yourself. Focus on nailing these consistently, rather than trying to be everywhere at once. Consistency is far more important than being everywhere.

Summary

Making these five decisions early on in your freelance nutrition business will make building your business easier, clearer and less overwhelming.

If you need support making these decisions, you can join The Freelance Nutritionist Collective, inside the membership, you’ll gain access to:

• A supportive community of freelance nutritionists and dietitians

• Live and on-demand webinars to support building and growing your nutrition business

• Practical written guides and templates to grow your nutrition business

Sign up to your membership by pressing here.