Our Top 5 Failures (Learnings) from Building Our 7-Figure Nutrition Business

Starting a nutrition business from scratch, with the primary aim of helping people improve their lives through better eating habits, is an endeavour filled with passion. It's a journey that my wife, Stacey and I embarked on, growing our venture from $0 to a remarkable $1.4 million/year. While this number may sound like a resounding success, the path was riddled with lessons learned the hard way. Stace won’t let me say failures, instead opting for ‘learnings'. No doubt she is correct once again. This blog is about those learnings. I hope to shed light on how our ‘learnings’ can be potential stepping stones for your success. If you’d like to check out our latest podcast where we discuss this in depth, click here.

1) The Critical Importance of Building and Nurturing Your List

Early in our business, we underestimated the power of our email list. With over 26,000 emails, it was a goldmine we barely tapped into. Our initial oversight in not nurturing this list meant we missed out on maintaining a crucial connection with our audience. Reflecting on this, we now understand that a list isn't just a collection of emails; it's a community waiting to be engaged and supported. This last point is an important takeaway; nurturing a list is not just about making your business more profitable, it’s about improving the client journey which ultimately leads to better health outcomes for your clients. I was the obstacle to making this happen. As a health professional, I feared being too 'salesy', or spammy. The sound of reason in our business (Stace) would often remind me that if our clients and potential clients are not reminded that we are here to help, they’re less likely to seek our services. To an extent, this is what happened. Eventually, we came to learn the importance of our list, but by this time, we had decided to sell our business and had checked out.

2) Cultivating a Positive Company Culture is Key

Our journey taught us that a strong, positive culture is vital, especially as the team grows. From daily huddles to celebrating wins, fostering a sense of belonging and appreciation among our team was crucial. However, as our team expanded, maintaining this culture became challenging. This experience underscored for us the importance of consistently investing in our team's cohesion and morale, no matter the size. Along the way, we had a few challenging staff members, but so does every business. The bulk of our staff were amazing, and we were blessed to have had them work for us. The collapse in our culture was 100% a result of us stepping off the bus before it had stopped. We wanted out of the business to travel around Australia with our young family. This was evident in our approach to the business for the last 18 months. As a result, our culture took a nose dive that it never recovered from.

3) Financial Literacy Cannot Be Overlooked

Perhaps one of our most significant learnings was the importance of financial literacy. In the early days, our lack of understanding in this area meant we were making decisions without a clear picture of our financial health. This ignorance, albeit blissful at times, eventually caught up with us, emphasizing the need for accurate, up-to-date financial records and a deeper comprehension of our business's financial workings.

Rates of obesity are higher in areas where food insecurity is high. We were not food insecure but were certainly financially starved in our early years. As a result, we would overindulge whenever the opportunity presented itself. In the early years, I would work every Friday and Saturday in a small regional industrial town called Gladstone. This was born out of the necessity to have a full workload. I needed to be seeing 60-70 people per week to meet our needs. Once a month Stace and my young family would join me to stay in the cheapest motel we could find. We would eat budget meals, prepared at home and were conscious of every dollar we spent. Despite this, our kids still have fond memories of the times we spent down there. We were living within our means, yet still forging great memories for our kids. As our finances improved, our lifestyle choices grew with it. We would stay in more luxurious accommodation, and eat out more often. Our kids were none-the-wiser, but we’d developed champagne tastes.

Now I’m not saying there is anything wrong with treating yourself, particularly after working hard to get there, but to truly be profitable, we should have tracked our finances more closely which would have moderated our spending. Instead, we knew our turnover increased significantly, and adjusted our lifestyle to suit. We had been so financially insecure in those early years, that it was just a relief to know that we could pay staff and cover the mortgage. Anything else was a bonus. As our turnover grew, so did our expenses. Had we tracked this more tightly, I would like to think we would have made more conservative business decisions.

4) Pricing Strategies and Value Perception

Our reluctance to increase prices over time was a lesson in the importance of valuing what we offer. Stace was constantly pressuring me to increase our prices. Stace knew more than I, just how dire our financial situation was in those early years. I’m the stress head in our relationship, and Stace actually hid just how bad our finances were at times. This was an issue in itself but was done to protect me from a meltdown. I was working huge hours to make ends meet for our family, and I may have completely broken down had I known how little we had most weeks. When the idea of raising our prices was discussed, as a health professional, I struggled with the concept. I wanted to help people, not make money from it.

One week I came down with a severe case of man flu. I remember my joints aching, and just wanting to stay in bed. All I could think though was that if I didn’t work, our family had no income. I’m sure we would have been fine, but this was the lightning bolt that made me realise we needed to charge more to cover our costs. Stace had been telling me this for a long time, but as usual, I had to arrive at this belief myself. Albeit a long time after Stace.

I had a visceral fear of losing clients if we raised our prices. I literally would have sleepless nights due to the anticipated backlash. Guess what happened? There was none! Zero! Not even a mention. In every instance that we raised our prices over the years, not one client ever mentioned it. This was a powerful reminder that the value we provide is worth paying for and that regular price evaluations are essential for growth.

5) Exploring and Maximizing Corporate Partnerships

Corporate partnerships represented an underexplored avenue for us. Only in hindsight did we realize the potential these partnerships held for expanding our reach and enhancing profitability. Large corporations are out there looking to spend money on health interventions for their staff. Why? It makes them more money! Now I don’t say that to sound skeptical, but there is good evidence for it. If a company’s staff are healthier and happier and they know the company they work for values their health, the staff’s productivity improves. They have less sick days. The culture of the workplace improves. When these stars all align, then typically a company’s profits follow. Nutrition is at the core of all of these things.

As our profile grew, we had companies come knocking. We weren’t even chasing the corporate dollar, but it found us. Had we not sold our business, we would have vested a lot more energy in this space. The work is easier, and the return is greater. I know that may sound slightly greedy, but if this kind of work made us financially secure, our business would have been more sustainable and able to help others. 

 Reflections and Moving Forward

In sharing our journey and the lessons learned along the way, we hope to illuminate the path for others in the nutrition business landscape. Both Stace and I are so grateful for what our business has taught us. It paved the way to where we are now in our lives. I now offer software solutions for nutrition business owners through the revolutionary meal planning software that is MEALZEE, or the online lead magnet service I offer for people wanting to build their lists. Stace honed her craft in the social media space and now has an international digital marketing agency called stacyhughes.co. None of these business ventures would be possible without the experience we gained from growing our nutrition business. The essence of our experience boils down to the importance of continuous learning, staying adaptable, and never losing sight of the core mission to help people live healthier lives. I hope this blog provides some pearls of wisdom to help you grow a profitable nutrition business and continue to have the positive impact you no doubt set out to achieve.