Step-by-Step Guide: Starting a Nutrition Business as a Student
Thinking about starting a nutrition business while you're still in school? Starting your nutrition business while you’re a student can give you an advantage upon graduating, as you’ll be ready to launch your business right away!
The decision to kickstart your nutrition business as a student is not just a bold move, but a strategic one.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the unique advantages of starting your nutrition business while you’re still a student - and how this will set you up for success in your future business!
Start Your Nutrition Business While You’re Still in School
It may seem overwhelming to think about starting your business while you’re still in school, but there are some simple steps you can take now to set yourself up for future success:
Build an audience early on! Whether it's through friends, family, or social media, building and nurturing your community is a smart way to not only boost your confidence, but also lay the foundation for your future business.
Take the time to figure out your niche now, by focusing on what excites you the most and what you're passionate learning about.
Brainstorm content ideas for your business now, so that you'll always have valuable and relevant content to share with your audience at any time.
By building your audience, aligning your passion, and nurturing your niche with valuable content, you'll set yourself up for nutrition business success while you’re still in school!
Free Ways to Start Your Nutrition Business
Starting your business now doesn’t have to be expensive. A lot can be done on a budget!
When embarking on your journey to start your nutrition business, the first step is to define what you’re truly passionate and excited about and base your business around that niche.
Having a clear niche will set you apart in the ever-growing nutrition industry and make it clear to your audience who you help and how you help them.
Once you have clarity on your niche, it's time to build a strong foundation for starting your nutrition business by building your network.
Networking is a powerful tool, especially while you're still in school!
To build your community and network, you can:
Connect with fellow students and nutrition professionals to help you learn and grow. This can also create the potential for partnerships down the road.
Create a strong community and referral network, as they can become your loyal clients and advocates when you launch your business.
Take advantage of networking events in your community. These gatherings offer a chance to expand your reach, learn from others, and showcase your expertise.
Try interning with experienced nutritionists. This can provide invaluable hands-on experience and open doors for future business opportunities.
Focusing on building your network and experience while still in school are great ways to get your business started now, for free!
Steps to Start Your Nutrition Business as a Student
Starting your nutrition business on a budget? No worries! With careful planning and smart choices, you can still make significant progress even with limited finances.
Here's what I recommend you focus on to set up your nutrition business while managing your expenses wisely.
1. Set Up Your Business Fundamentals
Make a to-do list of business fundamentals that you can afford to invest in right now, and identify what can wait until after graduation.
Business fundamentals you can set up while still in school are:
Registering your business
Obtaining any required licenses
Setting up payment portals like Paypal, Stripe, or Square
Using a bookkeeping template (like Grow CPA) to keep your business finances organized
Choosing a professional email/domain to create a credible online presence
2. Start Brainstorming Your Branding
While finances might be tight, don't overlook the potential of social media and branding.
Get on Pinterest and explore different fonts, colours, and images to find what resonates with you and what branding elements might resonate with your audience.
Next, focus on building a presence on one or two social media platforms, like Instagram, TikTok or Facebook. Choose platforms that your ideal clients are spending time on.
Update your bio with “Nutrition Student” to start building credibility and start posting a blend of 80% business-related and 20% personal content to connect with your audience authentically.
3. Conduct Market Research
Market research is essential to understanding your potential clients better, such as who is interested in your services, what they’re struggling with, and how you can help them.
By knowing who you want to help, you can get a better understanding of where these potential clients spend their time online and start building your online presence in these spaces.
Market research can also give you an idea of how much nutritionists within your niche are charging for their services, and allows you to learn from their strategies, successes, and failures so that you can create a business that stands out and makes you and your services different.
4. Plan Out Your Nutrition Services
Once you know who you want to help and how you want to help, you can start planning out your nutrition services.
Decide what kinds of services you’d like to offer, such as one-on-one consultations, group programs, or online courses.
Make sure you keep in mind the kind of service your target audience would be interested in purchasing, as well as the service you’re most interested in offering!
Try researching what services are already being offered by practitioners in your niche and work on creating a service for your future clients that will help ease their pain points and make you stand out.
Want to learn how to create your nutrition packages? Read more in this blog post.
5. Get Started on Your Website
Now the fun part - planning your future website and doing some market research to see what other nutritionists websites look like!
Using the branding you came up with in step 2, create a website that is engaging for your potential clients and also shows a bit of your personality and what it’s like to work with you.
Start compiling content so you’re ready for website building, such as writing engaging copy for your homepage, about page, and service pages, and having a few blog posts ready to go.
Consider whether you'll offer a service or freebie on the homepage and make sure to link your social media accounts for easy navigation.
6. Start Creating Valuable Content
To entice people to work with you, you’ll need to make sure you have plenty of high-value content ready for when a potential clients land on your website or social media pages.
This helps to establish yourself as an expert in the field and also helps to build trust with your community.
Consider writing your first 3-5 blog posts to drive traffic to your website and to showcase your knowledge.
You can also address frequently asked questions on your website and social media pages that you receive from your friends and family, to help you feel well-prepared and confident.
7. Build Your Email List
Start building your email list right away as it will always be a valuable asset for your business.
Choose an email marketing platform, like Flodesk, and create and promote a free resource that addresses a common nutrition struggle.
Regularly send out informative emails, sharing nutrition tips and insights from what you're learning in school.
Click here to get 50% off your monthly Flodesk subscription for the next year!
Ready to start your nutrition business right now?
Tight finances don't have to hold you back from starting your nutrition business while you’re still in school.
By following these budget-friendly steps, you'll be well on your way to launching a successful nutrition business before you even graduate from nutrition school!
If you’re looking for more support, Launch Your Nutrition Biz is my self-paced online course to help you start your nutrition business and sign your first paying clients.
Get lifetime access to the course and go through it at your own pace (even while you’re still in school!). Keep referring back to the course as you launch and grow your nutrition business!
