In this episode of The Dietitian Success Podcast, Krista Kolodziejzyk, RD, MPH, MBA chats about the 3 non-negotiables to hit your next business revenue goal.
She talks about:
- What is required to transform in your business
- Why the current version of you needs to change in order to enter the next level of growth (and how to do that)
- 3 consistent themes that have been evident every time Dietitian Success Center has levelled up
- The calculation that you’re likely not doing to see if your revenue goal is actually attainable with your current offer
Links:
- Check out the Dietitian Success Center membership here
- Connect with Krista on Instagram @dietitiansuccesscenter and @kristako.rd
- Check out our Freebies here – PES Statement Cheat Sheet, Client Resource Kit & Business Planning Workbook
Episode Transcript:
Welcome to the Dietitian Success Podcast. I’m Krista, the founder of Dietitian Success Center, an online learning platform for RDs and students. I am on a mission to help more dietitians build confidence and expertise in running successful, profitable businesses. I went to business school so you don’t have to.
My team and I have grown DSC to a platform that serves hundreds of members. We’ve experimented with all types of marketing, tech, sales strategies, productivity tools, systems, and more. And we want to spill the tea on what’s working, what’s not, and how you can leverage our insights to kickstart, expand, or elevate your own business.
Ready to dive into your business school crash course? If so, let’s get started.
Hey there and welcome to a new episode of the dietitian success podcast. So once in a while, when I sit down to record this episode, I feel like there’s a topic that is just like bursting out of me. And as I’m thinking about what I want to talk about in the week’s episode, There’s sometimes ideas are just. So. Top of mind. And. And often I think that’s because it has to do with something that I’m currently going through in my own business.
And that I really feel like I need to and want to talk to you about. So. Today. I want to talk a little bit about transformation. And. What is required to transform. When it comes to your business. And typically we quantify the result of that in a new revenue number. So it’s like we are at this certain point in our business and something shifts and it. Almost unlocks our ability to hit that next revenue goal. Because I think that that is very true and that is what is going to become.
What I’m going to talk about today is just that when I look back on the past four years of running my business, that’s actually been. What has had to happen in order for me to get to the next phase, the next revenue goal is there has to be something that unlocks. And so I’m going to talk about what are three things that I have found that are non-negotiables in order to facilitate that unlocking. And move us into that next realm of business, that next phase of business. Where we can hit that next revenue goal. And the reason why I’m talking about this right now is because we are going through a major transformation as a business in the absolute best way possible. I am so excited to share more with you about it. I’m not going to do it right now because we’re still in too early of stages.
I don’t have enough concreteness yet to really talk about this fully, but. There is so much. Excitement. To come. Um, Truly. Thinking about like, what is the movement that we are trying to create in dietetics? Like not just thinking about the products that we’re selling and what that looks like and at what price point and whatever, but it’s like, what is the vision?
What is the movement? How are we trying to change the face of dietetics? How are we trying to. Change how dietitians are valued and recognized in our profession. That’s really our. That’s our underlying, why? And so. This is what we’re doing right now. The work that we’re doing right now is probably the biggest transformative process that we’ve gone through.
So anyways, more to come on this, but this is the reason why I want to talk about this right now, today is because we are going through this transformative process as well. Um, And so, like I mentioned before, when I look back on my business, I do feel. That there have been critical points where things have shifted and changed.
Right. So I think things progress. Slowly. And then boom, something happens that moves us into the next level. Um, and I think what has become, so crystal clear to me over time is that. What got you to this point, won’t get you to the next point. And so what I mean by that is that there is growth that needs to happen in you in order to become the next version of yourself. And realize that next version of your business. So to make this. T to relate this back rather to dietetics and the work that a lot of you do who are listening. It’s the same thing with when you’re working with patients and clients, right?
They come to you with a desire related to nutrition related to health. They come to you with a want to be at a different place than where they are now. And a recognition that with their current skills, their current beliefs, their current education, their current knowledge. They have now they cannot get to that next version of themselves, that version that they want to be. So they invest in working with you as the guide to help get them to that next phase of life, to that next version of themselves.
And it’s the same thing in business, right? What got us to where we are now will not get us to the next phase. And I love the saying nothing changes. If nothing changes. Right. Like if I say to myself, okay, cool. I’ve made $50,000 in my business this year. My goal next year is to double that. But I have no intention of changing my mindset, changing my knowledge, changing my business plan, changing my offer. I am not going to achieve that goal.
I am not going to hit a hundred thousand dollars because nothing changes. If nothing changes. And so. Looking back. I want to talk about. Three things that have become a pattern. In my experience that I believe our requirements in order to get from the phase you are now to the phase of where you want to be, or the next phase of your business.
So let’s talk about that right now. Let’s get into number one. Which is paying for someone else’s. Knowledge and expertise. And so I think that this was a really big shift for me. When I started to think about.
Making investments in. My own development and my own education after post-secondary. Because I always looked at things like a cost. Um, and I, I had to make the shift and now, I mean, I don’t even think twice about it. Like if I, I know how valuable paying for someone’s else’s knowledge and expertise is.
And so it’s not even something I think twice about, but at the time, like I used to always look at these things like a cost, instead of thinking about it as. I am essentially paying for someone else is. Experience that can then flow through me and enter into my own business and how I think about my business and how I run my business. Um, So, yeah, and I think. What’s interesting here. Um, is that when you invest time or money and by the way, I think that this doesn’t necessarily I say paying for, but I think that paying for can be. Money or it can be time.
I think it depends on the person. So, for example, like I can. Get a book out from the library of business book out from the library, read it, and I can start implementing, like I have essentially paid for that. Person’s that author’s knowledge and expertise via my time. I haven’t paid any money for it. Um, but some people aren’t like that they need to. They need to actually invest the money in something in order to feel that motivation, that desire to get something out of it.
So it’s just about knowing yourself. And I’ve definitely found that myself, um, That when I’m paying money for something I’m, I’m way more likely to really try and pull everything that I can out of it. Um, but when you invest time or money into a course into a program into coaching, whatever that looks like for you, you’re paying to again, receive knowledge to receive new information, to receive new ways of thinking, to receive new expertise.
And I am of the belief that the ROI of that really can’t be quantified. And I’ll give you an example. I’ll give you a couple examples here. So. For myself. At the very beginning of my business, I’ve talked about this many times, I worked with a marketing coach and one of the things that we talked about, and there were many, many things that came out of that.
But one of the things that we talked about was. How to talk about our offer. So like what it is that we are marketing. And relating it back to a customer client, the person on the other ends. Pain points and what, how, what we’re selling can help to address their pain points. And this is a simple foundational marketing practice that has served me every single day. In my own business for the last. For years or however. Right.
Like for the last four years and we’ll continue. To serve me every single day. This is something I did not know before. Um, and it is something I learned. And it is essentially information that I paid for that I now use every single day. Um, and it’s the exact same thing. When people work with a dietitian. Someone is paying for your expertise. And so, for example, like if we’re, let’s just say you are a sports dietitian and you, your clients come to you typically because they feel like every time they go into a workout, they’re feeling flat.
They’re feeling lethargic. Recovery is challenging. And so they come to you. They pay you for a plan for a new approach for a new way of thinking about fueling. And they are able to move forward with that information and implemented in every single training session. Moving forward. That is so powerful. And I think that also helps us really. As a practitioner really recognize the value that we offer.
I hope it does. I hope that that hit home for you in terms of the value that you offer to the people that you work with. Um, it’s not just that one session. It is the expertise and knowledge and way of thinking that they have paid for that. You have transferred onto them, that they can continue. W using for the rest of their lives.
That’s pretty darn cool. That’s very impactful. Um, So, yeah, this is something that I find I’m always doing. I’m always looking to find the education that’s going to help me. Solve my current problem when it comes to business. And I do it constantly. I believe that there has to be a constant. Um, investment of time and energy into developing ourselves as people to achieve that next version of ourselves.
Uh, right now I haven’t really talked about this, but I’m definitely going to be talking about it more because it’s actually been incredibly transformational. I’ve used transformational. A few times in this podcast episode, but it’s because it is how I’m feeling right now. Um, I’m taking a, I’m actually taking a coaching certificate program.
Um, so I am doing the training required to be a level one coach through the international coaching Federation, which is sort of like the. Kind of like the pseudo regulatory body for coaching, even though it’s a non regulated industry, that’s kind of how I look at it. Um, I don’t know if that’s the right way to, to describe what they are and what they do. Um, but it’s, it’s sort of a, it’s essentially a body that aims to, um, Essentially make sure that people that are coaching are, are doing it. In a good way. Basically. Um, and so as part of that, I have to do, um, 20 hours of no, not 20 hours. More than that 20 think it’s 40 hours actually. Of. In essentially in-class virtual time.
So every Tuesday morning, that’s what I do. I meet with my group and we, um, work on coaching and I have to do a hundred practice hours. So I am constantly thinking about coaching, coaching practices, how coaching and dietetics overlap. That’s actually. My that’s my true interest in passion with this. This goal is to understand. How to understand how the two worlds intertwine, because coaching is actually incredibly different than medical nutrition therapy. Um, but I, I believe and have seen the results of what coaching looks like versus just straight medical nutrition therapy.
And I think that there. Is so much basically coaching is the practice of asking someone the questions required for them to come to their own beliefs, understanding about themselves and their situation and what they want set their own goals and intentions, and actually help them make behavior change. Um, And so I believe that there’s such an interesting and exciting synergy between the two worlds of coaching and counseling.
And I’m trying to figure out what that looks like from a dietetics lens. So this is, this is essentially me sort of doing my own research project that I can then bring back to the work that I do with dietitians and dietitians success center. And so anyways, that was an aside, but that’s something that I’m working on right now.
That’s been really awesome and really fun and super fulfilling.
Real quick. I just want to pause and talk about two new pieces of content that you get access to you as a business member within dietitian success center. And those are, are getting started with insurance billing courses. For both Canadian and us dietitians. And our nutrition 1 0 1 slide deck, white label template.
K. First, I’m going to talk about getting started with insurance billing. If you have thought about, or maybe you’re just really confused about maybe you don’t even know what I’m talking about. And you’re really confused with billing and insurance and how all of that works when it comes to private practice. Then we have a step-by-step course, four separate courses for us, dietitians and Canadian dietitians that walk you through how to, first of all, what billing is, what insurance billing is and the step-by-step process for actually how to set it up in your business. So if this is something that feels confusing, that feels unclear.
That feels overwhelming. You’ve probably heard from other, from colleagues that it’s, you know, a challenging process. It’s overwhelming. It takes a really long time. We’ve simplified it for you. Into concise, actionable courses that you get within your membership. The second piece that I want to talk about, is our nutrition 1 0 1 white label template. And so what that is is it is basically a. Template that you can use to do a presentation on nutrition 1 0 1, and you can completely customize it in every single way.
So we basically give you a canvas slide deck with all of the nutrition basics information in it. We give you a script you can use, we give you references. We give you all of that stuff. And you can customize it. However you want. Whenever you’re asked to do a nutrition, basics or nutrition, one-on-one presentation, you customize it.
You take pieces out, you add pieces, you change the fonts, you change the design, you change every single thing that you want to, whatever you want to change, you can change with this template. This is going to save you an incredible amount of time for when you get asked to do a nutrition basics presentation, which is. Every dietitian ever.
Am I right? So these two pieces of content get access to them. Now with the dietitian success center membership.
Number two non-negotiable to hit your next revenue goal is self-belief and mindset work. So one of the things that I find really interesting is that every year I will set a revenue goal for the year and I always start the year thinking. That goal feels big and it feels scary. And somehow. I always land so close to that goal. That has been so consistent every year.
So, I mean, I ask myself now, like, why don’t I set bigger goals? If, if I end up coming close to them anyways, like why don’t I set bigger goals? I think it really comes back to my own fear of failure, but that’s something I’m actively working on through coaching. Um, And so why do I land so close to that goal?
And I think it’s because when we put something out there into the world, we write it down. We have that number in our head. W our energy shifts and changes to help that goal become a reality. We start to develop an innate belief in ourselves that we can achieve that number. And that’s going to take a little bit of time and it’s going to take a little bit of self-coaching and self-belief and self work.
But putting that number out there into the world is really, really, really important. But with that exploring. Do you believe in yourself and your ability to achieve that? And I think part of that process is finding and seeing inspiration. I know that that was huge for me when, particularly when I first started my business. Um, is looking at people who. Had done things that I didn’t even think was possible. Right.
Like looking at business owners who were making. Amazing amounts of money every year and being like what I didn’t even know that was possible. And then suddenly when you see it, It starts to enter your own consciousness about like, oh, well, if that was possible for them, why couldn’t I be that? And that’s part of what I aim to do with this podcast is. Is is I try to share that type of information through myself or through people that I interview. To show. You all, what is possible and what. Your career and business could look like. Um, And so part of that is, is inspiration and like seeking inspiration, seeking inspiring stories. Um, but also doing some, I think self-coaching and self exploration.
Do you believe in yourself and your ability and if the answer is no. Why? Why don’t you believe in yourself and your ability. What assumptions are you making? I love this question. This is one of the questions that we’ve brought up or that. We’ve worked on in the, in my coaching program is what assumptions are you making about yourself right now? Um, And what else might be true?
Oh, these are powerful. Powerful questions. So I want you to think about that right now. Like, what are some options? Are you making about yourself and your ability to achieve these goals and what else might be true? Um, What’s the risk of believing in yourself. Um, Right. What’s the risk. You don’t hit that number. So who cares? Right.
He tried. And wouldn’t you rather have tried. And not hit the goal, then thought yourself. Darn. I wish I would have tried. I wish I would have gone for it because what if, what if it ends up being even better than I thought. So that’s number two is self-belief and mindset work is an absolute non-negotiable to hit the next revenue goal.
And then third is very practical. And very necessary. And this is asking herself the question and actually doing the work. Is your offer the right one to get you to that revenue goal. And this actually requires you to map it out. So asking yourself. How many clients or how many sales. At what price point is required to reasonably hit this goal? And is that reasonable with your current schedule?
Is that even doable? So for example, let’s say you are working with clients. One-on-one. And your schedule is already feeling quite full. And your revenue goal is double what you are currently making. How exactly are you going to get there with your current offer without doubling the number of clients that you see?
It’s not possible. It’s not possible with your current offer. So either you need to increase your prices. You need to, so let me, sorry, let me phrase that phrase that it isn’t possible unless you double the amount of time that you’re spending and double the number of clients that you’re seeing. Which if your schedule is already pretty full, That’s just not going to be possible. Um, so either you need to increase your prices.
You need to start selling packages to increase the dollar value, spend per customer per client. You need to, or you need to and, or add an additional revenue stream. Like coarse digital product consulting or freelancing. Um, we talk a lot about offer and pricing in the dietitian success center. Uh, nutrition plus business membership, by the way. So. Yeah, this is something that you need to actually do the work to map out, um, and figure out is what you’re doing right now, a way to achieve your revenue goal.
And if the answer is no, then something needs to change and something needs to shift. And by the way, often times this has to be accompanied. With some mindset work because it can be really tricky. To increase your prices or increase what your change, what you’re offering. Without feeling like a fraud without feeling, um, insecure without feeling fearful. And you have no reason to feel like a fraud or to feel insecure or to feel fearful, but it is very real and it is something that all of us experience when we’re going through those big shifts, it can be very uncomfortable to become the next version of yourself. Um, Okay.
So I hope that you enjoyed that episode. I hope you were able to take something out of that. That you can move forward with as a recap, three non-negotiables to hit your next revenue goal. First of all, I just want to say as a, something to stick into your mind is nothing changes. If nothing changes. But number one is paying for someone else’s knowledge and expertise.
Number two is self belief and mindset work. And then number three is your offer the right one to get you there, to get you where you want to be. All right. Well, thanks so much for listening. I hope you have an awesome week and I will see you next Thursday.
