Top 10 Skills for Dietitian Entrepreneurs

Have you debated going the entrepreneurial route? Thinking about starting a private practice as a Dietitian? You may be wondering if you have what it takes to succeed. After being in business for 3 years now, I have learned a lot about my skills and what I need to hone in on to have my practice thrive.

Below, I outline 10 different skills/traits that are crucial to your success, whether it be in private practice or in another business venture. While you may not feel that you are strong in all of these areas, the more you push yourself and your comfort level, the more enhanced these skills will become.

#1 - Passion 
Whether you will enter the realm of entrepreneur as a Dietitian or any other professional, you need to be passionate about what you do. This passion will drive your business and fuel your motivation through tough times.  Your passion will resonate with clients and show them that you truly care about what you do.

#2 - Perseverance
Throughout business, you will have many ups and downs with both income and overall success. Contracts may fall through, clients may drop out, your business may change, etc. Perseverance is key to keeping yourself from throwing your hands in the air and walking away. All of your hard work will pay off!

#3 - Self-Confidence 
While you may not feel confident in every aspect of running a business, be confident in your niche, your talent, what you bring to the table. As an entrepreneur, you are constantly selling yourself and your products/services. If you don't believe in yourself and have confidence in your abilities, why should prospective clients or companies?

#4 - Self-Motivation
As an entrepreneur, you are the boss. You don't have a manager telling you what to do at all hours of the day. You are not walking into an office where there is a list of duties or set of expectations for your role. YOU create that role. YOU create those expectations. Can you motivate yourself when no one is standing over your shoulder? If you are struggling with how to motivate yourself, take some time to figure out what drives you to succeed. Is it making more money? Having more freedom? As an entrepreneur, I can say from experience that you won't necessarily feel motivated, or confident for that matter, every single day. You should be able to motivate yourself and be a self-starter at least 90-95% of the time.

#5 - Strong Work Ethic 
Having a strong work ethic can be described in a number of different ways. I like to think of quality, integrity, and responsibility as attributes that someone can exhibit within their "strong work ethic." Your quality of work and service will speak for itself and drive clients to your door (I have seen this first hand without the use of paid marketing).

#6 - Ability to Multitask 
Being the boss means that you may wear many hats (especially if you work alone), but, it can also mean you oversee many departments and thus need to be aware of the inner-workings of each. I feel that there is a fine line between what is effective and what is overwhelming and hinders production. When I think of multitasking, I think of the various things I need to accomplish on a daily basis: posting to social media, seeing clients, fielding calls, answering emails, writing content or lessons, etc. Some of these things may happen simultaneously. The key is not stretching yourself too thin, but managing these tasks efficiently.

#7 - Effective Time Management
Number 6-8 all go hand-in-hand. With having multiple items on your plate each day, you need to learn how to effectively manage the time you have. Know when your best hours are to work on administrative tasks. Know when you tend to see and schedule clients. Remember to leave some time for yourself daily (if not weekly) to recharge your batteries. Running on empty will hinder your productivity and ultimately ruin plans for time management. Before you know it, you are sucked into 3-hours of Netflix and haven't accomplished a thing for your business.

#8 - Organization
I would say the number one skill to have as an entrepreneur is a high level of organization. This is especially important in the beginning stages of your business planning. If you are a Dietitian and plan to become an insurance provider, you will need to keep track of applications, billing codes, claims, etc. Being organized means that you manage your time well, finish tasks by their deadline, and are on top of scheduling. One of the key things I have learned with keeping myself organized is to prioritize my day-to-day tasks and anticipate when I will accomplish the non-priorities. I also found having systems in place for my administrative tasks is helpful. I have a system for how I schedule clients, how I store files, how I chart, etc.

#9 - Flexibility 
You may have your day or even week planned to a perfect T and then, disaster hits. Two clients need to reschedule, you get 2 new calls of potential clients, your seminar outline is taking longer to write than you thought, etc. Within any role, as an entrepreneur or an employee, you need to be flexible. Things will happen that will throw your day off. Take a minute to regroup and then prioritize what is ahead of you. Being flexible means using many of the other skills mentioned before: time management, organization, strong work ethic, etc. Every day will not go as planned and that is okay!

#10 - Continuous Learner
One final skill I want to touch on is being the continuous learner, which can be related to the field of nutrition or business. Never stop challenging yourself or pushing your boundaries. Continue to learn, enhance your skills, and become a polished professional.

After reading through this post, what can you identify as your strengths and weaknesses? As I mentioned earlier, you may not feel strong in all of these areas of your business. If you do feel one or two areas need improvement, can you take an online course to enhance those skills? Or, could you take on a partner or an employee that would fulfill these tasks? As an entrepreneur, you may not be able to handle everything in your business, especially as it begins to grow. Identify what your are priorities and where you can delegate or outsource other tasks.

Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!

For more information on preparing yourself for private practice, click the LINK.

For tips on starting a private practice, click the LINK.

My Experience and Tips for Your First Networking Event

I just realized it has been a couple of months since my last post. Funny how life gets in the way! Just a quick recap: I started billing insurance companies for the first time with my private practice, finally figured out how to properly bill insurances to actually get paid, am still in grad school, holidays galore, started my garden, and I think that is about it!

Back in January, I joined my local Chamber of Commerce (Greater NE Philadelphia) and I highly recommend any business owner to do the same! One really cool thing about the Chamber is that I can utilize some of their spare rooms to meet with clients, which I don't do too often since I primarily conduct home-visits. I did join a committee with the Chamber, but I couldn't make the first meeting, so I don't feel that involved in it yet. I am planning to get more involved in committees and events in the next couple of months. Recently, the Chamber hosted an open house for their new office location and this my first networking event as a private practice owner. I had no clue what to expect in terms of how many people would come, what I was supposed to do, and how exactly to introduce myself to complete strangers. If you Google networking events, you can probably find a million resources online about preparing for one; however, I really just want to give my firsthand experience in case anyone else is as nervous as I was.

In terms of preparation, don't bring a lot with you besides your business cards and maybe a small notepad and pen. I would say the dress for this event was more business casual. Some people had on suit jackets and others didn't. The event was also 4-7pm, so I think a lot may have just come straight from work. About 90% of the Chamber members and guests who came were middle-aged men. I felt a little intimidated at first with being a young, female professional, as weird as that might sound. I later thought to myself, "Hey, maybe I will be more memorable then!" I feel like with networking events, it is a matter of you just holding your head high, realizing you have something awesome to give, and not being afraid of what other people may or may not think. It is all about the pep talk!

One of the biggest things I realized about being at this kind of event, is to never judge a person by their name badge. When I first came in, I got a badge to write my name and business on it. I would see professionals from banks and think that we wouldn't connect on much in terms of business relationships. WRONG! Networking isn't just limited to who you THINK you should connect with. It is really about connecting with people from all types of business backgrounds because you never know when a partnership may form or if they do anything on the side that relates to what you do. For example, I met a financial advisor who was also a new member and a new personal trainer and also vegan. I mean go figure right?

Definitely bring a stack of business cards to a networking event and don't forget to hand them out! I wasn't sure how to give my card without being too pushy or annoying about it. I found it was best to introduce myself to someone, get to know them and what they did, explain what I did and then give my card and say something like, "Well, if you or your company are interested in any nutrition services, I would be glad to help. Check out my website for nutrition information too." Something simple but to the point and a great lead way into giving your card. Also, be interested in what they do too. You don't want to seem like your just there to sell your business (even though most people are). Remember, this is about building the connection long-term. Plus, you may be seeing these people again and if they think of you as a pushy business owner they may be less likely to come to you for their business later.

I brought along a small notepad to be able to jot down names or information of those I met. I figure you meet so many people that it is hard to remember who does what after the event. If someone gave me a business card, I would also jot down key information on the back to remind me later. You might look back and say to yourself, "Why did I talk to this guy from a phone company?" Maybe, he was interested in your nutrition newsletter or you were interested in phone lines for your practice.

After the event, I gave it a day before sending out an email to those whom I connected with. Just a quick follow-up about our conversation, how it was great meeting them, and a link to my website or more information if they requested it. I felt like I didn't want to again seem too pushy on my practice. I realized being sincere and noting some of the conversation topics was a good way to write the email. You could also use LinkedIn if you don't want to send out emails and just want to build the connection.

So, to sum everything up. Be confident in yourself, dress the part of the professional, don't be afraid to approach people, shake their hand confidently, remember to give out your card, write reminders to connect the card to the face and name, and always be yourself. If they don't like you for who you are, oh well. There are plenty of other professionals to connect with, so if you know you were professional and nice you did the best that you could do!