How We Built a 7-Figure Nutrition Business

When I reflect on our time owning a busy nutrition practice in Central Queensland, it's easy for me to focus on all of the mistakes we made (and there were plenty). We didn't grow to become a 7-figure business without doing a few things well though. Both our successes and failures have an episode each dedicated to their stories. To hear them on our podcast, simply click here. This article discusses what we did well to grow our business from $0 to $1.4M in a short period. Our very first episode brushes over the key successes and learnings (failures) from our time owning a business nutrition practice. This article is a deeper dive into everything we did to grow.

The Power of Coaching and Business Communities

Easily our most integral decision was to engage business coaches. For me, I just heard a webinar by a fellow dietitian, Dr Peter Clarke. It was a serendipitous moment. I don't even know why I signed up for this random webinar, run mid-week by Sports Dietitians Australia. I'd never heard of Pete, but something in the title of that webinar must have caught my attention. At this point, we were financially very thin. We'd just purchased our family home using the proceeds from the sale of our first house for a deposit. We had 3 children under 3 and had started a business from scratch with very few contacts in the area. We had both given up secure employment to move back to the coast and be near family. Our savings had evaporated so I needed to start earning money to cover our bills because, at this stage, our bills outweighed our income. I know, I know, I'll get to the success part soon. Pete's webinar was mind-blowing. Pete owned a Dietitian business in Port Macquarie. The numbers he was sharing about his business left me stunned. I thought, wow, I need to speak to this guy. Pete was not a business coach but agreed to help me out. I will forever be thankful for his guidance as it shaped everything we did as a business moving forward. 

At about the same time, Stace came to me about a free business live event she wanted to attend. Being the perennial tight-arse, I thought, yeah go for it, it's free. After attending, Stace could not stop talking about this business group called Business Blueprint run by Dale Beaumont. Stace had heard Dale on a podcast and immediately fell into his funnel. She wanted to join his Business Blueprint membership but did not want to sign up until I had attended Dale's next free live event as well. At this point, Stace had not told me how much it was to join. Regardless, we both flew to Brisbane for Dale's event '52 Ways.' At the time, my experience with these sorts of things was limited. I half thought we might be walking across hot coals or glass. Within the first hour, I said to Stace, let’s sign up! Dale gave so much value in that first hour that I thought, regardless of cost, the whole membership must be worth it. We’ve been in Business Blueprint for over 7 years now and it still does not disappoint. We’ve made lifelong friends and built networks across multiple industries. I know if ever we have a business need, someone in the Business Blueprint community has our back.

Diversifying Locations

Another turning point for us was our decision to diversify our clinic locations across Central Queensland. This strategy emerged from the necessity of filling our clinic daily. While it began as a survival tactic, it eventually allowed us to establish a robust presence in these areas. Early on, I would drive 4 hours to a location, see clients for 8-10 hours and then drive home again. These were massive days that took their toll on me and the family. What it enabled though was the foothold to then employ other dietitians where a full-time caseload was almost ready to go. This is not an easy accomplishment when working in regional and rural locations. At our peak, we had six locations and 10 dietitians. That growth would not have been possible without the early diversification of our service area.

Utilizing Government Grants

Accessing government grants proved to be a game-changer. This was another masterstroke from the business brains in our partnership, Stacey. Grants enabled us to hire dietitians and admin staff, which was essential for our growth. We could access grants of up to $20,000 to employ new staff. This took the anxiety out of recruitment, to say the least. Our good friend Kim Yablsey from Growology was instrumental in securing these grants for us. I was amazed by the support and opportunities afforded to small businesses, especially in regional locations. For us though, if we didn’t know someone like Kim, accessing these grants would never have happened.

The Impact of Writing a Book

Writing 'The Tweaking Diet' was a leap outside my comfort zone. It also tested Stace and my relationship. Stace had attended another free webinar, this time run by the amazing Nat Denman from the 48 Hour Author. Little did I know, Stace then signed me up to write a book; paying a sizeable deposit that we could not afford. I was furious on multiple fronts. This was money we did not have and I had imposter syndrome on steroids. Who the fu#k was I to write a book? Despite all of that, I forged ahead.

Nat and the team from the Ultimate 48-Hour Author were amazing. The support and frameworks they gave to me enabled a seamless book-writing process. The review process of writing the book was hard work. I wrote the book in 48 hours as promised, but the editing and reviewing took months. They turned out to be some of the most important months of my professional career though. Writing a book and putting your name to it (this imposter never agreed to having his photo on the book though), comes with all sorts of pressure. The pressure to have my research dialled in, and the facts straight. I went on a 4-month long study journey. This was all stuff I knew, but now as an author, I needed to know it intrinsically.

This gave me confidence as a clinician which helped grow our business in so many ways. I was confident to mentor other dietitians, give presentations to 100s of other health professionals, and even have a regular gig on the local radio discussing all things nutrition. It was a rewarding process that helped me grow both personally and professionally.

Productizing Services and Building Online Courses

After writing the book, we then moved towards productizing our services. Utilizing the chapters of the book, we then had the framework to create an online course. This was pre-COVID, but I loved the idea of online learning as I knew it would complement what we did in our clinics. The next step was to market our online course. How could we expand our reach and help a wider audience? This is where we created our Nutrition Challenges. We offered significant prize money as the marketing tool. The process involved participants doing our online course, getting body scans, joining webinars, plus accessing our range of meal plans as part of the challenge. This was by far our most successful marketing tool throughout our time owning this business. We more than doubled our social media following, increased our brand awareness, and our private clientele became a dominant revenue stream.

Innovating with Technology and Software Solutions

A significant aspect of our growth involved leveraging technology. We used clinical software solutions to streamline our processes. We built our own makeshift system, which though initially challenging, turned out to be a huge time-saver and revenue booster. Our referral partners could email a referral to us, which was automatically uploaded into our software, and an email confirmation was sent back to them, plus an SMS to the client to book an appointment. The time saving for our admin staff was huge. 

Our clinicians, could enter the client’s data, create a modified meal plan for them, and write and send a doctor's letter, all before the client had rebooked their next appointment. Efficiency was key, and we’d built a system to save us significant amounts of time.

Building a Robust Online Presence

Stace was conscious of the need to have an online presence. We could not afford to engage ad agencies or Facebook marketing experts, so Stace became one. StaceyHughes.co is now a thriving Facebook ads agency helping clients all over the world. Stace learnt her trade through the necessity of building our online presence with our business. We built an online calorie calculator that became a powerful lead magnet, enhancing our website's SEO and attracting clients nationwide. We went from paying a few thousand dollars for a website we could not edit without it costing an arm and a leg, to being able to do it ourselves.

Our social media pages had engaging content that provided a platform to reach thousands of people. With a gun to my head, Stace had me doing regular live videos on various topics, the most popular being our product reviews.

Meeting Client Expectations

We recognized the importance of meal plans in client retention. Before MEALZEE, we developed over a hundred different meal plans, which significantly boosted client engagement. We did this because our clients told us they wanted it. Before an application like MEALZEE, creating a meal plan would take hours. For this reason, it was not a viable option unless a client wanted to pay an exorbitant amount for it. We set out to create a meal plan library that could meet a range of needs for a client base. Despite not being a customised meal plan, it was the closest thing to it. We would have clients come back for a review consult each month, just to have the new meal plan. We were giving them what they wanted, but selling them what they needed (nutrition education and support).

Investing in Cutting-Edge Technology

After attending the global nutrition conference called FNCE, in Washington D.C. USA, I was pleased to learn that we as a small dietitian clinic in regional Australia, were providing a gold-standard, cutting-edge nutrition service for our clients. At the time, investing in advanced technology like the InBody machines and metabolic rate testing equipment set us apart in the dietetics field. These tools not only provided unique value to our clients but also became a cornerstone of our health challenges. I was following my mentor Pete’s advice; “provide a service that your clients can not get themselves at home.”

Fostering Partnerships and Diversifying Services

Creating partnerships with doctors, gyms, and other allied health professionals was crucial. These collaborations not only expanded our client base but also diversified our revenue streams. We would host regular doctor’s lunches or meetings to get our brand out there and be the go-to nutrition professionals in our region. As we built our brand, we also became the go-to nutrition professional for the corporate space in our region. This is a very lucrative market that requires less input. If we did not sell our business when we did, we would certainly have been nurturing this space as a strategy for future growth. 

Knowing What Services You Can Offer
Embracing services like NDIS and DVA allowed us to offer comprehensive and financially sustainable services to a broader range of clients. Knowing these services exist is one thing, but understanding how they work is another level altogether. Embarrassingly, I had no idea about what services I could offer when it came to DVA. For those who do not know, DVA is the Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s a service run by the Australian Government to help our returned defence personnel. The Government offers higher and more comprehensive rebates for health professionals who work in this space. I had been seeing DVA clients for some time before my mentor Pete alerted me to what I could correctly be claiming. There is an item number for creating a meal plan worth nearly $100. Yet here I was sacrificing my family time, offering these services for $0. This taught me a valuable lesson, and that was to go through all of the documentation when looking into potential service offerings.

In conclusion, building a 7-figure nutrition business is no small feat. It requires a combination of strategic planning, embracing technology, and a relentless focus on providing value to clients. Each of the successes in this article came with an equal share of failures. The next episode of How to Build a Successful Nutrition Business details those failures. What I hope you take from both of these episodes is that building a profitable nutrition business is a journey rather than a destination.

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