How To Build An Online Nutrition Business, While You’re Still In School
It may seem a bit backwards to start your nutrition business when you’re still in school, but I know from experience that nothing can be further from the truth!
I didn’t start my nutrition business while I was in school, and upon graduation I spent nearly a year setting everything up the back end of my nutrition business.
I would spend hours in a local coffee shop creating client handouts I might need, researching different website platforms, playing around with my logo for the 20th time and trying to come up with a post idea for social media.
I was spending so much time setting up my business foundation after school, that my excitement to start working with clients and make money post-graduation quickly turned into overwhelm!
This is why I always recommend starting your nutrition business while you’re still a student.
Whether you’re going to school to become an online holistic health coach, a holistic nutritionist, a culinary nutritionist, or a dietitian, starting your business when you’re still in school will put you ahead of the game.
Imagine being able to launch your business and start signing clients right after graduation day! No wasting time trying to figure things out, or having to build your social media community and email list from scratch, or wondering where you should even start!
When you start your nutrition business while you’re still in school, you can hit the ground running after graduation!
This is exactly what I support Nutritionists with inside my online course, Launch your Nutrition Biz!
You’ll learn all the skills you need to run a successful nutrition business before ever graduating from nutrition school.
Curious to learn more? Check out Launch Your Nutrition Biz here!
Time Management and Prioritization Are The Keys To Success
If you’re wondering how to build an online nutrition business while you’re still a student, it’s important to be able to find a balance between school work and business-building activities.
The key to this is time management and prioritization of tasks!
My favourite task management platform, and the one I recommend to all of my clients and students, is Asana.
This free software option was designed specifically to help teams and entrepreneurs organize, track, and manage their work. With its eye-catching colour-coded projects and user-friendliness, Asana is the perfect tool to help you organize your tasks for both school and business.
My other suggestion for implementing a time management system is to create a realistic schedule that accommodates time for school work and business tasks.
Starting your nutrition business while you’re still in school can be a lot of work, so it’s important to make sure you set aside time for both activities to avoid getting burnt out. Time-blocking is the perfect way to do this.
Choosing certain days for certain tasks, and setting aside specific times for each task, can help you check off everything on your to-do list.
Here’s an example of how to set up your schedule to include time for school and business tasks:
Monday: School tasks
Tuesday: Business tasks
Wednesday: ½ School, ½ Business
Thursday: ¼ School, ¾ Business
Friday: ¾ School, ½ Business
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Off
Remember that this is only a suggestion! The great thing about time-management and time-blocking is that you can create a schedule that works best for you.
Pro tip: continue to use these time management and organizational strategies after you’ve launched your online health coaching business!
Setting Clear Goals For Your New Online Nutrition Business
If you want to make progress in your nutrition business while you’re still in school, it’s important to set clear goals!
Both short-term and long-term goals will help you to stay on track while building your nutrition business during your studies.
Short-term goals allow you to make baby steps in your business and frequently experience small wins!
Short-term goals are also beneficial for:
Increasing motivation
Improving focus
Time-management
Long-term goals are great for providing a clear picture, or roadmap, for your nutrition business and where you want it to go in the future.
Long-term goals can also lead to:
Better decision making
Competitive advantage
Personal satisfaction
One of my favourite methods to use when goal setting is “good, better, best”
Whether it’s a short-term goal or a long-term goal, I always choose a result that is good for me, a goal that is better than good, and a really big stand-out goal that would be the best to achieve! That way, if I hit my good goal, I’m happy and anything else I achieve is a bonus.
An example of “good, better, best” goal setting while you’re in school and building your business might be:
Good - Set up social media profiles
Better - Set up social media profiles and make first post
Best - Set up social media profiles and start posting 3 x per week
Now, while your main focus right now might be the goal of graduating from nutrition school, it’s never too early to start laying the foundation of your business and start thinking about your vision and mission.
A clear vision and mission will help guide your actions and decisions while building your business moving forward!
When creating the vision for your nutrition business, try keeping these things in mind:
Dream big: Envision the ultimate impact you want to make on your clients' lives. What does success look like for you and your business in the long term?
Be specific: Instead of a vague goal, try to paint a picture of your ideal business. Do you want to offer one-on-one coaching or do you prefer group programs? What niche do you want to specialize in?
Inspire yourself: Your vision should excite and motivate you to take action!
When coming up with the mission for your business, be sure to:
Define your purpose: Be clear about why you're starting a nutrition business. What problem are you solving for your clients?
Keep it simple: Your mission should be concise and easy to understand
Align with your values: Ensure your mission reflects your personal beliefs and ethics
Remember, your goals, vision, and mission can evolve as you gain experience and knowledge…nothing is set in stone! The important thing is to start thinking about them now while you’re still in school and use them as a foundation for your business.
Creating A Health Coach Business Plan
The best way to map out your business goals, vision, and mission, is by putting together a health coach business plan.
Clearly defining certain aspects of your business, even before you’ve started it, will help create a solid foundation for your nutrition business and help you make better decisions to achieve your goals!
Create a streamlined nutrition business plan that focuses on:
Your business vision and mission
Outlining your goals and potential roadblocks
Planning out your schedule to achieve these goals
Outlining your potential services
Deciding on your niche and target market
Defining your unique selling proposition (how you stand out in the market)
By understanding your offerings, your ideal client, and what sets you apart, it will be easier to tailor your marketing efforts to your target audience and build a successful nutrition coaching business, even as a student.
Once you get the hang of creating a business plan, you can tailor it to fit the needs of your business and make a template for future use.
Creating a health coach business plan template allows you to check in on your goals every month, quarter, or year and come up with a plan for how you’re going to continue to grow your business and meet and exceed your goals.
Inside the Entrepreneurial Skills and Biz Fundamentals modules in my online course Launch your Nutrition Biz, I’ll help you to come up with your business vision, set goals, and a realistic plan to achieve them!
Developing Your Online Presence Whilst At School
One of the most beneficial things to do when you’re figuring out how to build an online nutrition business as a student is developing your online presence!
You don’t need to have your nutrition business up and running to start your website and social media platforms.
Creating Your Website
It’s important to have a professional website for numerous reasons, including:
Establishing credibility
Showcasing your expertise
Attracting clients
Sharing content
Building relationships
Your website is your virtual storefront for your nutrition brand. And with SEO-optimized web pages and content, your ideal clients can find you through Google even before you’re ready to work with them.
Pro tip #1: start a waitlist so you can keep track of leads who want to work with you when you graduate!
Getting Started on Social Media
Social media is a great tool to help you grow your nutrition business and find clients.
Here are the first steps to take when setting up your business on social media:
Figure out which platforms your ideal clients spend time on (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Youtube etc)
Create your profile and indicate that you are a nutrition student (for legal reasons)
Post relatable and educational content - this can be about what you’re interested in, what you’re learning about in school, or related to your niche (if you have one!)
Pro tip #2: Create a freebie and encourage people to sign up for Nutritionist Email List!
It’s important that when you’re posting on social media to post content that your audience is interested in learning more about!
Brainstorm how your ideal client currently feels, what they’re struggling with, how they want to feel, and what they need to do to accomplish their health goals, and post content about that!
People want to know that they’re heard and understood, and posting relatable content will have them hitting that follow button and reaching out to work with you.
Staying Motivated and Avoiding Burnout
Balancing school and figuring out how to build an online nutrition business at the same time will fill your plate, so it’s important to find a healthy balance while tackling both at the same time.
Here are some tips to stay motivated and avoid burnout while building your online nutrition business while you’re still a student:
Prioritize and Schedule
Create a detailed schedule that allocates specific time blocks for school, business, and personal life
Prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance
Break down large projects into smaller, manageable steps
Set Realistic Goals
Create ‘good, better, best’ goals for both your studies and business
Celebrate small wins to maintain motivation
Be flexible and willing to adjust goals as needed
Build a Strong Support System
Connect with fellow nutrition students, mentors, or other nutrition professionals for advice and support
Share your challenges and successes with trusted friends or family
Practice Self-care
Make time for activities you enjoy
Prioritize sleep, nutrition, and relaxation
Learn to say no if you're feeling overwhelmed
If you’re starting to feel overwhelmed or stressed, take a step back! Remember that it’s okay to take breaks and recharge, and it’s not a race to get your nutrition business set up.
Go at a pace that works best for you and don’t forget to ask for support - you don’t have to build your business all on your own!
To summarize, here are some tips for how to build an online nutrition business while you’re still in school:
Manage your time effectively and prioritize your tasks
Set clear goals for your studies and your business
Create a business plan to map out your vision and mission
Start developing your online presence, like your website and social media platforms
Make sure to go at a pace that works for you and remember to always reach out for help with starting your business if you need it
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!
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