Written by Krista Kolodziejzyk, RD, MPH, MBA
Updated April 2024
If you’re thinking about starting a dietitian nutrition business, you’ve probably thought about the name! Coming up with a unique dietitian company name can be challenging, but not impossible. In this blog post, we review our top tips for finding a nutrition business name, and how to check whether a name is available.
This blog post is for you if you find yourself struggling with:
- Feeling stuck when it comes to starting your business because you can’t come up with a name.
- Constantly looking up “names for nutrition businesses” on Google.
- Deciding between using your own name or coming up with unique dietitian business name.
- Choosing your social media handles based on your nutrition business name.
Quick Links
Within the DSC Nutrition + Business Membership, you get access to the Ultimate Nutrition Business Checklist, which gives you a step-by-step outline of everything that needs to be done to setup your business; we link to videos for each step which walk you through how to complete each task. Here are some of the tasks you want to do in addition to deciding on your dietitian business name:
- Define your niche and ideal client profile.
- Define your offer by outlining what you teach and how you deliver it.
- Come up with preliminary pricing.
- Start to outline your brand, including your brand adjectives, fonts and colors.
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.
Coming up With Your Nutrition Business Name
There are 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 may connect more with a face and name vs. a generic brand.
- When people Google your name, they will find your business.
Cons:
- It may end up being more challenging to expand in the future depending on your goals. For example, if you’re planning on expanding your practice and hiring additional practitioners, it may make sense to have a unique business 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 may 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 if you change your mind and don’t resonate with your dietitian business name anymore.
One thing to keep in mind is that there is a term called ‘doing business as’ or DBA, which describes when a person or business uses a name that is different from their legal name or official name (it’s sort of like having a nickname for your business).
For example, your legal name could be Jane Smith, LLC, but your DBA might be something different – like Apple Nutrition. A DBA allows you to operate under a different name without changing your company’s legal name. This would allow you to have more flexibility in the future if you wanted to change your name, or perhaps if you wanted to have different brands associated with your business.
Different states, provinces and territories have slightly different requirements for a DBA and how to register or set it up (and, they may even call it something different). This article provides a great synopsis as a starting point.
The next thing to consider – is the name available? We provide you with a number of steps you can take to check whether a business name is available in the DSC Nutrition + Business Membership ($54/month).
Assess if the Dietitian Business Name is Taken
Take the following steps to assess whether the dietitian business name is taken:
- Google the name – does anything come up for that business name?
- Type the URL into your search bar – do any websites come up?
- Run a domain search on a platform like GoDaddy
- Check the IG handle and on other social media platforms
- Check whether the name is taken at a state/provincial and federal level.
Our DSC Nutrition + Business Members have asked whether your Instagram handle should be the same as your business name. Our answer is:
- Probably 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, included in the DSC Nutrition + Business membership.
10 Nutrition Business Name Ideas
It can be helpful to brainstorm a list of words that you could potentially piece together to come up with your nutrition business name. Brainstorm a list of words related to 1. Your story, 2. Your niche and 3. Your philosophy. Combine them together in various ways to come up with a business name.
Here’s an example:
- Your Story & Brand Essence: Dietitian, Nutrition, Nutritionist, Practitioner
- Your Niche: Digestion, Gut, Flora, Gut Health, IBS, Children, Families
- Your Philosophy: Simple, Natural, Intuitive, Loving
Business name ideas based on the brainstorm list (please note that these are just a brainstormed list, they have not been checked to see if they are available or not):
- Loving Flora Nutrition
- Simple Digestion Solutions
- The Gut Health Nutritionist
- Your Family GI Dietitian
- Natural Gut Wellness
- Intuitive Digestive Care
- The Intuitive IBS Nutritionist
- Earthcare Gut Health Practice
- Children’s Digestive Wellness
- Flora Family Nutrition
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 Nutrition + 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!
Disclaimer: The information provided in all video content is for educational purposes only and is in no way medical or professional advice. Dietitian Success Center Inc. is not responsible and cannot be held liable for any actions or inactions taken related to the information provided. It is the user’s responsibility to validate content with their country’s current standards for dietetic practice before implementing.
