Hey there! It’s Krista, your dietitian business coach. I want to share my best tips related to choosing dietitian business names.
As a dietitian entrepreneur, are you struggling with:
- Feeling stuck in starting your own business because you can’t come up with a name?
- Constantly searching online for “names for nutrition business”?
- Deciding between using your own name or coming up with unique dietitian business name ideas?
- Choosing your social media handles based on your nutrition business name ideas?
Keep in mind that before thinking about coming up with your business name, I recommend getting very clear on who your business will be serving, your business services, and your business niche.
Listen to my podcast episode on how to define your niche.
Get started with a FREE Dietitian Business Planning Workbook for a step-by-step breakdown on how to create your dietitian business plan, steps for how to define your niche and pricing and marketing strategies, as well as goal setting tips.
Naming your nutrition business
There are really 2 options when it comes to naming your business:
- Operating in your own name (ex. Jane Smith Nutrition)
- Coming up with a unique business name (ex. Cool Cookies Nutrition)
Let’s go through the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Option 1: Operate in your own name
Pros:
- Establishes YOU as the brand, helping you develop a deeper connection with potential clients
- People tend to connect more with people
- It will be easier for people to find you, this is especially important if you’re wanting to establish yourself as an expert in a certain area
Cons:
- It may end up being more challenging to expand in the future depending on your goals. So for example, if you are going to be bringing on additional practitioners to grow your practice, it doesn’t make as much sense for everyone to be operating under your own name.
Option 2: Come up with a unique business name
Pros:
- It may allow for more expansion in the future (see above)
- You can offer more products, digital courses, or add more practitioners under the umbrella of your business
- It helps to separate your business from your 9-5 job, this is particularly important if you are still working a 9-5 job and don’t want to be “Google-able” as your business
Cons:
- A business name might be less identifiable as being “your business”, if you are the central practitioner having your business in your own name ensures that you get the recognition as the brand
- It can be really challenging to find something original – there are so many nutrition and wellness related names out there that have already been taken
- It can sometimes feel like you’re grasping at straws to come up with a name
- It can be more of a headache to change your business name down the road
What I usually recommend to my clients is that if a unique name does not come to you naturally, start with your own name to keep it super simple.
Don’t let the name for your nutrition business be something that is holding you back from taking the next step.
Assess if your dietitian business name ideas are taken
This is an important step if you’ve come up with a unique name or if you have a really common name – you want to make sure that someone doesn’t already “own” it.
- Search for it on Google – does someone already own the domain name?
- Search national name databases and government trademark databases to see if the name is registered as a business already: Canadian Database, US Database
- See if the social media handles are available
Choosing a Social Media Handle
A lot of clients ask me if your Instagram handle should be the same as your business name
My answer is:
- YES if you’re using a unique name
- This creates brand cohesion, if someone is searching for your business, you want them to find you online and on social media easily
- NOT NECESSARY if you’re using your own name
- You can instead pick something that easily identifies you and your speciality (ex. pregnancynutritionist)
We cover more detail on social media strategies in DSC’s social media course for dietitian entrepreneurs (available for 2 dietitian CEUs), included in the DSC Basic + Business membership.
Don’t let choosing your dietitian business name hold you back from starting your business! Get clear on who you will be serving, your services and your niche. If a unique nutrition business name doesn’t come to you right away, try getting started with your own name – you can always shift gears later on.
The DSC business membership includes access to 40+ courses for dietitians including the Business Setup Course where you can learn more about setting up your business and choosing a name. For nutrition business success!
Dietitian Success Center is THE professional development resource for dietitians, dietetic students, and dietitian entrepreneurs. Our mission is to make it easier for dietitians and dietetic students to build expertise. We do this through evidence-based courses for dietitians, community and ready-to-use client handouts. Plus – we give you the tools to start and grow your dietitian private practice!
