Today I’m breaking down the steps to determine your dietitian consulting fees and how much to charge for your offerings.
If you’re stuck on deciding how much to charge for nutrition counseling, you’re not alone. This is an important step in building your dietitian private practice business plan!
We’re going to cover some of the basic pricing principles and how to determine your ideal dietitian private practice salary.
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.
Introduction to Pricing
There is no right price, there is no wrong price, there is only your price
Most dietitian entrepreneurs are looking for a concrete right price for their offer or dietitian consulting fees. But pricing is very individual and dependent on the unique value that you yourself bring to the table.
The following factors are important to consider when coming up with your pricing:
- Your education and training (if you’ve taken more continuing education, courses, etc. to refine your skillset and expand your expertise)
- Your experience (how long have you been practicing in this area?)
- Your ability to deliver on results (this will get higher as you become more experienced!)
- The brand that you’re building (are you a sought-after dietitian with a large social media following?)
Pricing is a Work in Process
I typically recommend that my clients evaluate their pricing every 6 months or so. Pricing is a reflection of value and as we become more valuable (ie. we work with more clients, learn more, deliver better results, etc.) our prices should reflect this!
What determines how much you can charge?
- Your experience
- A brand new dietitian vs. one that’s been in practice for a while
- Your credentials and training
- Do you have a unique skill set or knowledge base?
- Investing time and money into continuing education courses absolutely makes you more valuable in the world of business and entrepreneurship!
- Your target market
- Is it important that your services are budget-friendly?
- What the market will tolerate
- We want to make sure that we are not pricing ourselves significantly lower (or higher) than others (to an extent). How other people price themselves can be a reflection of what the market will tolerate, but don’t use this as your sole decision making criteria. As mentioned above, if you add more value, you can charge a higher price point.
- Competitors
- A word of caution here – do NOT compete on price with other dietitians (ie. try and be LOWER than them because you think it will make you look better). Pricing “cheaper” than competitors makes your services look sub-par, and devalues the role of the dietitian.
My General Pricing Principles
- The pricing sweet spot = you feel like your time is valued and your target audience will pay for it
- Don’t price yourself entirely based on competitors
- Don’t let imposter syndrome dictate your price
- You can start lower and slowly increase over time
We cover pricing in more detail in DSC’s Defining Your Offer & Pricing course for dietitian entrepreneurs, included in the DSC Basic + Business membership. You’ll also gain access to the Defining Your Offer worksheet and Monthly Revenue Calculator so you can put these steps into action.
Setting Your Income Goals in 3 Steps
Determining your dietitian private practice salary takes some planning. Even if you’re only thinking about a side-hustle or looking for how to make money as a dietitian. Setting a money goal can help give us direction to make sound decisions in our business.
Step 1: Start by Assessing your Money Mindset
- Is there anything holding you back from charging for your value?
- You might be asking yourself:
- Am I really worth that much?
- Can I really charge that price?
- What if I offer too high of a price and disappoint people with my services?
Step 2: Understand your Minimum Revenue Requirements
Calculate your monthly revenue requirements; how much money you need to meet your monthly expenses. This is where our Monthly Revenue Calculator for DSC business members comes in handy.
We want to have a number in the back of our minds for how much money we need, because when we are actively aiming for something we are more likely to be successful in achieving it.
Step 3: Set a Realistic Goal
- Set a monthly goal that you feel is realistic
- Work your way up to it, things take TIME, but everything is possible
- Break the goal down into achievable and measurable milestones
- Don’t set yourself up for failure (ie. setting an outlandish monetary goal that isn’t realistic)
- Write this number on a sticky note and post it next to your computer
Step 4: How much do you need to charge to meet this goal?
- Breakdown how many clients you need to take, at what price point, in order to achieve your money goal
- This may feel overwhelming at first but will help to give you a concrete number to aim for
Key Takeaway
There is no “right” or “wrong” price for your offerings or dietitian consulting fees. Though, there are some factors that can influence how much to charge for dietitian counseling and other services. Your offering value will go up with more time and experience. Knowing your ideal income goals can help you understand how much to charge and be more successful in earning money as a dietitian entrepreneur.
The DSC business membership includes access to courses for dietitians including the Defining Your Offer & Pricing Course where you can put these steps into action and come up with a plan to decide on your dietitian consulting fees.
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!
