14 Advantages of Online Business for RDs
One of the best things I ever did as an RD was open my own online private practice. The freedom it gave me to live my life was UNBELIEVABLE and after years of running my own online nutrition business, I started helping RDs and RDs2Be make their dreams a reality and build their own online private practice! If you’ve thought about this, but always dreamed of having a brick and mortar practice with your name on the front, I GET IT!
There’s a lot that goes into taking that leap and going out on your own, and one of the biggest choices you have to make is whether you’ll go online or in-person! I am a big advocate for going online because of so many incredible advantages that you gain from simply doing this thing on a computer. So, today, I am going to help you make this choice by highlighting some of the biggest benefits of having an online business over a physical one!
14 Advantages of Online Business for RDs
Knowing the reasons you should consider an online private practice won’t only help you understand why it’s better than brick and mortar, but also help you understand why it’s better than your 9-5! You deserve to feel valued, be appreciated, make an impact, and get a real paycheck. An online business can get you the life you always wanted as an RD!
Brick and Mortar vs. Online Business for RDs
If you’ve already made the decision to go out on your own with a private practice, CONGRATULATIONS! That’s a tremendous first step to realizing your true purpose! Of course, you can open a private practice in a building or you can do it online. To help you decide which to choose (or whether to go solo at all), here are the main benefits to opening an online nutrition business:
What Are The Advantages Of Online Business for Dietitians?
Benefit 1: Pursue your passion for nutrition in the way you want to.
One of the most amazing things about having an online nutrition business rather than being in a traditional RD 9-5 is that you can truly pursue your passion—not an available position. If you’ve always had a dreams of helping teens with eating disorders or athletes with performance, you can actually do that when you go out on your own! Your niche and focus is totally up to you! And, unlike a brick and mortar business, you’re not limited by the available clients in your area that would benefit from that niche.
Being able to serve in ANY area of nutrition you want adds so much PURPOSE to your career. What would be more fulfilling than actually pursuing the field of nutrition where you feel most called? No more waiting for the perfect position to come available or hunting down just the right location to set up shop. You can do whatever you want! Let your heart lead!
Benefit 2: Live wherever you want to in the world.
As long as you can get Wi-Fi, you can live wherever you want with an online private practice! Whether you just want to be close to family at the drop of a hat or want to live that digital nomad life, you can do that with an online private practice! Online businesses offer the freedom to roam or station yourself pretty much anywhere in the world. How incredible is that? Live where you feel called with no concern for your small business or position!
Benefit 3: Work only with who you want to work with.
When you work in a traditional healthcare facility or clinic, you don’t get to choose your clients. Often, you’re going to see the same type of nutrition clients day-after-day and they may or may not fulfill your calling as an RD. And, if you have a brick and mortar practice, sometimes you have to settle for the available clients in your city or neighborhood. They may not be in the niche you so badly want to help!
However, with your own online nutrition business, your potential customers are only limited by your desire to work with them! Of course, you can work with anyone in your specific concentration of nutrition, but you can even expand on that if you want to. That means even if your niche is pediatric nutrition, but you find an adult autoimmune client you want to work with, you can! You get to choose who your dreamy clients are and there are plenty of them out there!
Benefit 4: Choose when you want to work and when you don’t.
Another benefit of working online as an RD is the flexibility of your work schedule! Whether you only want to work a few hours a day, a few days a week, or want to take a few months off, you can do that. There’s no boss to answer to or posted business hours to abide by. You just organize your schedule accordingly to fit your needs. Just make sure you stay organized with a good client scheduling program like Acuity Scheduling or Calendly!
Benefit 5: Never experience salary caps or long raise waits.
Let’s be honest, you didn’t become an RD because you Google their salary. It’s just not a position where you make a lot of money in a traditional position. But, when you work for yourself in your own nutrition business, you have limitless income potential.
First of all, there’s no company or upper management that needs to be paid, so the full amount the client pays, you receive. Beyond that, you can give yourself raises or add additional revenue streams as often as you want, meaning you can earn way more money as a private RD than a traditionally employed RD! Could you do this in a brick and mortar business? Maybe, but you have a lot more overhead to deal with!
Benefit 6: Everyone saves on commuting costs.
Another great benefit of online business is no commuting costs—for you or your clients! You both get instant access to your sessions, saving you time and money. Studies show that the average person spends 19% of their annual income on commuting fees like gas, parking, and vehicle maintenance. That means you get nearly a 20% raise from the start just because you’re not driving to work anymore! Beyond the cost savings, you can also get back on average an hour a day every day!
Benefit 7: Little to no overhead.
If you’re debating a brick and mortar business or an online business model, there’s a lot to consider. Truthfully, a lot of the benefits of having your own nutrition business goes away if you have your own physical practice—you won’t have the freedom to live where you want and you won’t have access to as big of a client pool. Additionally, you’ll have significant overhead costs. Not just utilities and rent, but also receptionists and other additional employees you may need! Online business models have lower operating costs, meaning you can start your private practice right away and generate a profit without needing to scale your business too much. It’s a big benefit!
Benefit 8: Opportunity to develop your own programs and solutions.
Often when you work as an RD in a hospital, clinic, or other healthcare facility you’ll have to use their established nutrition programs and protocols. This can be frustrating if you feel you have a better way of getting your clients to their goals! Luckily, with your own nutrition practice, you determine the program and systems! And, if something isn’t working, you can always get creative and switch things up. This allows you to really apply your knowledge and passion to make the biggest impact.
Benefit 9: Flexibility to change your life or career whenever you want.
If there’s ever a time things need to change suddenly in your life, you can manipulate work to make it happen. Whether that’s a sudden move, a decrease in workload, an increase in workload, or something else! Whatever you need at the time, your private nutrition business can adapt to fit your life through its ups and downs. If you have a brick and mortar practice, you have to keep those doors open to pay bills, which can really impact your flexibility!
Benefit 10: Cultivate true work-life balance.
Work-life balance isn’t easy when you’re underpaid, underappreciated, and overworked RD working a 9-5 (that tends to stretch into an 8-6 most of the time.) It’s also not easy when you have the stress of lots of overhead with a brick and mortar practice. A big benefit of starting an online business is that if you establish the right boundaries with yourself from the beginning, you can find true work-life balance and take care of your mental and physical health while embracing your meaningful career in nutrition and dietetics. .
Benefit 11: Network and build relationships with chosen professionals.
Sometimes coworkers are the best part of the job, and sometimes they’re the worst. Working with other healthcare professionals can be a challenge and deepen your sense of feeling unappreciated. But, when you have a private practice YOU choose the professionals you want to network with! That way, everyone you draw into your business circle treats you with respect, aligns with your mission, and understands the value of nutrition in the same way you do! Just like with your clients, you get to be choosey to create the perfect work environment for yourself.
Benefit 12: Take advantage of multiple revenue streams.
Of course, one of the limits of a face-to-face type of business like nutrition counseling is the fact that there’s only one of you! Eventually, you’re going to book up your entire schedule. This is an incredible milestone, but it also can feel like a ceiling for your business’s growth!
But, this doesn’t have to be the case when you’re online, because you can take advantage of multiple digital revenue streams by offering additional products and services on an online store that don’t take time out of your session schedule. Think things like printable meal plans, online courses, and other digital products! They’re a great way to make passive income as an RD.
Benefit 13: Be accessible to a global clientbase.
When you’re online, you can reach a global clientbase. You can find your dreamy clients all over—you’re not limited by your neighborhood or city! With the implementation of digital marketing strategies, you can find your dreamy clients anywhere. There are no location barriers with an online private practice! (And, no, you don’t need to be an expert in digital marketing. Here’s how to get clients as an RD!)
Benefit 14: Make a true, significant impact in your chosen niche.
A traditional RD job can be very draining and discouraging—It can honestly make you forget why you loved nutrition so much in the first place! The perfect way to reignite that passion, realize your mission, and make a true impact is through an online private practice. I’ve worked with hundreds of RDs over the years, helping them create successful private practices. They all agree, they started to make a tangible impact when they went solo!
Open your own online private practice for the biggest gains as an RD!
People who choose to be Registered Dietitians do it because they have a real passion for people and nutrition. Sometimes, you’re just not serving that passion in a 9-5 . . . but is a brick and mortar private practice the answer? Probably not! An online private practice will serve you best and give you the most rewarding work-life balance!
If you’re ready to get started with your own online nutrition business, apply to work with me! I am a dietitian business coach who has helped so many RDs just like you build a successful online practice that fits their unique needs and mission. Together, we can find your dream career and unlock your full potential!