Merging Legal Expertise, Entrepreneurial Ventures, and Investment Insights With Rahul B. Patel
February 28, 2024 | Written by Gladiator Law Marketing
Rahul B. Patel is the Founder and Managing Partner of Patel | Gaines PLLC, a full-service business services law firm known for its comprehensive legal solutions and strategic support in the business sector. Alongside his role at Patel | Gaines, he co-founded the Five Fitness Group, South Texas’ largest franchisee of the publicly traded F45 Training. Rahul has been recognized with many honors, including the Super Lawyer Top 100 Lawyers, San Antonio Business Journal’s 40 under 40 Man of the Year, and San Antonio Magazine Faces of San Antonio. He also holds significant positions in the industry, serving on the global brand fund committee for F45 and as the Chairman of the Alamo Angels Organization, a group dedicated to supporting startup growth through investment and education in the Alamo City. Rahul’s expertise and leadership have made him a key figure in Texas’ legal and entrepreneurial landscapes, as well as a respected speaker on business and legal topics.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
Rahul B. Patel discusses what Patel | Gaines PLLC specializes in
Critical moments in the growth of Patel | Gaines
Why being fearless in business is important
How and when Rahul knew he wanted to be an attorney
Why Rahul believes personal branding and marketing are crucial in the legal field
Rahul shares how he got into the fitness industry
In this episode…
In the dynamic intersection of law, entrepreneurship, and investment, navigating success requires more than just expertise in a single field. How does one merge these diverse areas to build a career that spans across legal practice, business ventures, and angel investing?
According to Rahul B. Patel, a visionary entrepreneur and seasoned attorney, the key lies in using each area’s strengths to support and enhance the others. He highlights how legal expertise provides a solid foundation for navigating the complexities of starting and managing a business, as well as understanding the intricacies of investment. Rahul further emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurial agility in adapting to market changes and seizing new opportunities, while investment wisdom enables the strategic support and scaling of innovative startups.
In this episode of 15 Minutes, Chad Franzen talks with Rahul B. Patel, Founder and Managing Partner of Patel | Gaines PLLC, about merging legal expertise with entrepreneurial ventures and investment insights. They discuss Rahul’s strategic approach to business law, his venture into fitness franchising, his impactful role in startup investment, and how these experiences have shaped his multifaceted career path.
This episode is brought to you by Gladiator Law Marketing, where we deliver tailor-made services to help you accomplish your objectives and maximize your growth potential.
To have a successful marketing campaign and make sure you’re getting the best ROI, your firm needs to have a better website and better content. At Gladiator Law Marketing, we use artificial intelligence, machine learning, and decades of experience to outperform the competition.
To learn more, go to gladiatorlawmarketing.com or schedule a free marketing consultation. You can also send an email to adam@gladiatorlawmarketing.com.
Episode Transcript
Intro 0:01
You’re listening to 15 Minutes, where we feature community leaders sharing what the rest of us should know but likely don’t.
Chad Franzen 0:12
Hi. Chad Franzen here, one of the hosts of Share Your Voice, where we talk with top notch law firms and lawyers about what it takes to grow a successful law practice. This episode is brought to you by Gladiator Law Marketing, delivering tailor made services to help you accomplish your objectives and maximize your growth potential. To have a successful marketing campaign and make sure you’re getting the best ROI, your firm needs to have a better website and better content. Gladiator Law Marketing uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and decades of experience to outperform the competition. To learn more, go to gladiatorlawmarketing.com where you can schedule a free marketing consultation. My guest today is Raul B. Patel, Founder and Managing Partner of Patel Gaines PLLC and Co-founder of the Five Fitness Group, which stands as South Texas’ largest franchisee of the publicly traded F45 training. Rahul has been honored with accolades such as Super Lawyer top 100 lawyers, San Antonio Business Journal Man of the Year 40 under 40, and San Antonio Magazine faces of San Antonio. Furthermore, he serves on the global brand fund committee for F45 and holds the position of Chairman at the Alamo Angels Organization. In addition to his business pursuits, he is a frequently invited speaker sharing his insights and expertise. Rahul, thanks so much for joining me today. How are you?
Rahul B. Patel 1:29
Hey, man, thanks for having me on and reading that bio, you know.
Chad Franzen 1:33
Hey, hey, fun to read. Hey, tell me as we get started here, just kind of tell me a little bit more about Patel Gaines. And what you guys specialize in?
Rahul B. Patel 1:42
Yeah, so we founded our firm, just this past May, it was 10 year anniversary for when we started our law firm. And we’re really, you know, we pride ourselves on being a business services law firm. So anything in the business space in the small to medium to large sized business space is kind of where we were, we were really practicing serve, business, you know, business transactions, real estate, general business services, litigation type of needs. And then we’re also one of the state’s largest commercial property tax litigation firm. So an area that, you know, we we’ve always had an early focus on to what I did prior to founding this firm as well. And it’s a great, you know, an area where businesses are constantly who owned real estate or real estate is part of their business growth. It’s an area in Texas that’s constantly kind of in flux, a big hot button type of issue. But it really leads us to learning more and more about our clients and really opens up the door for a lot of other business services that we clients need. And that’s where we help we help them service.
Chad Franzen 2:45
Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary, as you look back over that time, is there a moment or two that kind of stand out to you as like, you know, that was kind of a turning point or, or a particularly memorable moment for you?
Rahul B. Patel 2:56
Yeah, a couple of them. One, you know, very early on when, you know, we were kind of up against what I would call our own kind of do or die kind of, you know, cut the cord type of moment where we said, if we can get it going by this time, or we run out of money at this stage, we maybe we made May, we need to turn back around. And I remember we had a case we’ve been working and we settled it. And I remember driving kind of an hour an hour south to our client where he was located. I’m like, I need any of this shit. And he just continues to check like we settle this case. And he was just like, well, what’s the hurry? I’m like, Well, here’s the deal, like I need I need it now. Because our firm, you know, it’s gonna either either live or die on us. And he’s like, well, here, Sure, no problem. And so that was kind of a critical moment where it was super important for us to get a win, and we needed it. And sure enough, we got it. And then the second time, I think was when we, you know, really ventured into the space where we are time when we needed space. And we needed we kind of got past that Regis office, we got past our first little flyer office, we needed a space and that meant real commitment, right? And then having a real lease, having a little having a little bit of Bilbao and having to get real furniture. And, you know, it felt like the second time we needed to make a substantial commitment, not just in terms of money, but also commitment, right? Like we’re signs lease where this is going and then so that was a kind of an early turning point, you know, two years into our firm that we felt like man, now we’re on the right track. But it also meant making an investment and, you know, again, taking another risk. And so a kind of series of those types of moments where we just felt like, which way do we go and it always meant go forward. Right. So that was good.
Chad Franzen 4:45
I was reading. I was reading an article that you were featured in and it said that Patel Gaines was one of the fastest growing law firms in the country. Can you provide a little insight into that and as to why.
Rahul B. Patel 4:58
You know, I think it just you know, came down to do the thing that most of us do, and we start something or we start a business or we or we get going or we start at a new job, we get really excited, we start moving. And then we forget to reinvest in what got us there. And so, you know, if you’re really hungry to get your first job at a big firm, and now you’re like, Well, where am I going? Well, that same hunger you got your job is the same hunger that you need to show now to say what it takes to be at the next level, whether you want to make partner whether you want to grow your income stream, they’re all possible isn’t to go back and put the same cards back on the table that it took you to get started in. So you know, the same kind of method is that we really, we have really spent the first eight foundational years of our firm and we continue to as a putting back into the firm. And so, you know, critical point, about four years ago, we outgrew our space, and we decided, well, let’s build our own building. And so we went and figured out how to build a 20,000 square foot building services, our firm, and then maybe some of our other kind of growth needs. And so, you know, really, I think the thing that people get a little bit scared of as they start and they get going when they first kind of get something that they want to hold on tour versus putting it right back in. And, and you have to kind of have that, you know, you know, at startup mode constantly. And you know, that’s kind of a big pride and joy of ours is to really come back in January, not just with this refresh, resurgence of New Years and new resolution, those those living kind of fail fast, but it’s alright, what do we want to tackle this year? Like, where do we struggle? Where do we do these things, and then having a focus plan to attack and solve those problems. And I call it kind of startup mode. If you if you’re constantly looking like starting the business? Like it’s today my everyday matters, then you continue to sell find yourself growing at a rate that’s better than what you’re putting in no more than what you ever expected.
Chad Franzen 6:58
In that same article, I read that you you kind of talked about the importance of being fearless. Can you can you expand on that a little bit?
Rahul B. Patel 7:07
Yeah, I mean, you know, it’s like a perfect example was just this past weekend, we went to a water amusement park. And there’s these water slides that you know, you you basically get into this little capsule, and they count down three to one in the bottom drops out. And you know, as an adult, you kind of like, what if this breaks, what if this happens, you think all these things through and your kid like my just popped on this thing, and bam, they’re down the chute. And so I think it’s that fearlessness a little bit sometimes where you have to go look, you know, I made a series of calculated decisions, I’ve got myself educated, I’ve done these things, I believe that my plan is going to work I and if you’re not so sure how in your own competence or your abilities, you vetted this out, you ask people you’ve questioned that you got a business plan together. And then you just got to take a chance you got to take a risk, and you got to be willing to pivot, you have to be willing to say, Hey, I messed up, that wasn’t a good idea. Or you know, what it seemed ways you’re on paper than it was in practicality. And so I think that’s like the biggest challenge. And I can remember when we, when we first started, we still put together a big business plan I went to Kinko’s had a spiral bound printed and you know what, we didn’t really need to have a business plan, right? Well, I mean, we really didn’t, nobody was asking us what’s your gonna be your plan, it was, we had our own money, and we’re gonna put it in and start a firm, but yet we knew we needed a plan, we need to go back to what we were, what we were trying to accomplish and how we deviated from it. Yeah, but you know, I think that comes down to fearlessness. I think that’s a gene of, you know, a lot of times, that’s a missing trade for professional services and professional folks that try to also be an entrepreneur. That’s an entrepreneurial spirit that you have to carry with you. And it doesn’t matter whether you do in a medical practice, the legal practice and accounting practice, you have to be fearless, you have to try to take you have to take risk, and you have to have a really short memory because I’ve gotten older. That’s another thing is like how to have a really short memory kind of, you know, by kind of, you know, brush the bruises off and figure out what you did wrong and get down there and then get right back up and keep going.
Chad Franzen 9:07
I wouldn’t When did you know you wanted to become an attorney?
Rahul B. Patel 9:13
Oh, man. You know, I think back in high school I wrote a wrote a little self goal that thought I wanted to want to go to law school. And it said I wanted to be maybe a business lawyer. I went to Ohio State went to fell into Marketing and Economics really liked the business element of it. I really liked marketing dabbled around a little while and then I think it wasn’t until I finally decided to apply and then I probably took my first couple of classes that I go oh, man, this is this is for me. I can do something with this. And then you know, I think the cool thing about the the legal field is it’s pretty it’s it can allow you to create a path that that that you will want versus one that has been created for you. And I think that’s a that’s a beautiful part about this profession that a lot of folks. I don’t think In other professions they’re able to have, they’re not able to take the knowledge that they learn in any particular field, and then are able to transfer it somewhere else into a completely different opportunity. So you know, I’ve got folks that have got a buddy that started at, you know, a company and now it’s, it’s, it’s an expungement company and took his legal experience. And it’s, it’s, it’s become incredibly successful. We’ve got people that go in house, we have people that start real estate companies based on what they do. So I think that’s what’s that’s what’s really valuable about this is that you’re learning something. But if you if you understand how to learn it, understand how to navigate within it, you can take that baton that knowledge anywhere and transfer it very easily. So to me, you know, I think, early on, I didn’t really know, thought I wanted to do it. But I think when I really learned that this is an incredible tool, and you get to help people if you do it the right way. And I think that’s been what’s been rewarding. It’s kept us kept us doing it.
Chad Franzen 10:56
You mentioned that you had a marketing degree, you got that from Ohio State, how has that kind of helped your journey, especially as an entrepreneur, entrepreneur and an attorney?
Rahul B. Patel 11:06
I think it’s important, I think, I think it’s, I think has been invaluable. You know, you have to remember, a big part of what you do is service folks in their biggest time of need, and in in struggle. And then also, sometimes in times of excitement, it’s easy to help clients when they’re having great, great things, right? Hey, I’m about to open and another for businesses, I need this. And by the by this, that’s easy. But I think the marking element of it really helps you when you when you find yourself with clients that are going through a challenge, because that’s when you need to learn more about your customer, you need to learn more about your client, you need to learn more about the audience, I think that helps you in in helps me in every phase when it comes to negotiations mediations, because it’s all about understanding how to get kind of your product or your service or your idea or your desire across the table, which which requires a lot of things. You know, and so in marketing, you’re, you’re taught to look at the audience you’re looking at, you know, what, what’s the need? Where can you service it? How can you get someone to believe that this is the right product? And so I think, you know, all those elements are super important, and then all and oftentimes, I think lawyers are too. They’re too comfortable with what they think. And they know, and they forget that their clients oftentimes, and for the most part, they know far more than them. And so I think that’s been a big motive is how do we get our clients comfortable, we’ve got a pretty really a comfortable environment, you rarely see me in a suit or tie. If it wasn’t for this event today, you know, I’m wearing I’m pretty casual. And that allows clients to come in more casually makes them feel a little less like they’re in a little chair, and I’m in a big chair. You know, we’ve done certain purposeful things, there’s no diplomas anywhere in the offices, if you’ll look, it’s memorabilia, things that are important to us family pictures, and it’s things that then get people to be more comfortable. But that’s again, marketing. If you’ve ever ever been in a sales job, when you walk into someone’s office, the first thing you do is kind of look around, grab a couple of items of saying oh, hey, I see you’re a basketball fan. And my dad took me out for whatever that is, kind of breaks the conversation down. So I think the same thing goes in the legal field is we have a history of kind of being seen as a certain way. And I think it’s changing the perception. And that comes down to marketing and knowing your audience.
Chad Franzen 13:22
Yeah, it sounds a lot. Some of the things you talked about there sound a lot like personal branding. I know you’re often asked to speak on that, is that that kind of what you’re referring to?
Rahul B. Patel 13:30
Yeah, I think that’s, that’s, that’s the key, you know, I can tell you, when I quit my job at the firm, you know, I had a great job. It was great firm, it’s a great firm, but it just didn’t fit. They didn’t like in something inside of me felt like I was I was wearing a uniform that I didn’t, you know, just didn’t fit me and it was hiding me and masking me. And so, you know, I think it comes down to personal branding is you you have to be yourself and the more you are yourself, the more you’re true to who you are versus your professional, just what you’re trying to do that I think the more that you attract clients and people that want to seek that information, because at the end of the day, we’re a counselor, they are coming to us and asking a question and asking for your advice to give you the right question. So right answer to that question. And so if they don’t know you, or they don’t trust you, or they don’t know, the truly enough about how you’re forming your opinions, and they’re left with more doubt and their answers. So I think that attracts, you know, you, you if you attract people, then who know you and know why you make decisions and know why you might be inclined to those things. I think that makes you that much more valuable or maybe the wrong fit for for somebody who just wants, you know, you need to make every decision for them all times. You know, when it comes to lawyers, we’re not really we’re not really making decisions for them. We’re trying to give them path A and path B and letting the client go or which path do I need to go down? But rather than just saying, Well, what do I do? You gotta go? How do you drive them to a decision that you believe is best for them. And the deeper you know them, the deeper that they’re willing to share with you the better advice you can give them to go? Well, I believe if we had down path B, here’s the three things that you’ve said to me you want to accomplish, I think are more likely be as an outcome. These are your pitfalls. These are your pros, these are the roadblocks. Now they’re making more decisions, but you’re making decisions based on truly what they want. And I think that’s, that’s the thing, a lot of times clients come to you and like, you know what, I’m gonna sue this person, it’s like, Well, okay, well, why and like, well, they built, they built into my, my area, and and they, you know, they’ve encroached my law by XYZ. Well, if you start going down that path, say, Okay, well, let’s look at the paperwork and Sue instead, like, what have you done? Have you talked to them via conversations? Like, how did they How did this happen? Like, did they have conversations with you. And so now you get to the crux of, well, you know, you just never should have been allowed when I get into emotional thing. So I think to me, the more you, you get folks to become comfortable with you in your brand of who you are, then you attract customers that really want that type of device. And then you realize your own value even better that way, because you’re not trying to be a chameleon to what they want. You are their counselor. And I think if you want to attract high profile clients, successful businesses, you’ve got to be seen as a thought leader. And that sometimes means being comfortable, telling them that they’re incorrect, telling them that this is not what you what you want to do. And I think that’s where we’ve made our biggest Mark sometimes is being being being able to be honest by by serving who we are and what we won’t do for them and what we will do for them.
Chad Franzen 16:52
Let’s get into a few other things that I talked about in your intro, before we wrap things up here. Tell me about F45. And what that is, and kind of how it stands out in the fitness industry.
Rahul B. Patel 17:02
We represented a lot of franchisees on the franchisee side. And, you know, sure enough opportunity and morale, we built a real estate fitness was a super important kind of element of mine, I’ve gained a lot of weight on on this funds, unhealthy journey. And an opportunity came around and we’re business lawyers. So you know, the more we’re involved in certain business activities, the realer we can be with our clients Tuesday we I get this, I’ve been in this situation, I’ve signed a lease that the terms don’t look all that great, but I couldn’t edit them out. And in fact, that’s a business risk, I gotta be willing to take, I’m not going to, like lose that opportunity, simply because I can’t get wrapped in what I’ve got to get drafted, because that’s just the reality of it. So I got involved in that. And, you know, weathered the storms to COVID. And it really created a good opportunity. And the company, you know, has since gone public, they’ve had some, you know, some changes in some opportunities, but you know, it’s a company that I think is going to has a has a great opportunity ahead of them. And, you know, I’m excited. And so as a franchisee, we’ve been in the boat, we’ve signed leases, we borrowed money, we, you know, created construction, we’ve had issues. So we’ve done, we’ve signed franchise agreements. So it’s puts us in a boat with a lot of our clients to truly understand what they go through. And I think that only builds us more respect with with a lot of our folks to know, I get like this is what it is. But here’s what we need probably need to do in this in order to get goals across the finish line.
Chad Franzen 18:29
I also mentioned that you are the chairman of the Alamo Angels tell me tell me what they do and why it’s been important to you to be involved with that.
Rahul B. Patel 18:38
That’s awesome. And it touches back on and kind of what you talk, what we talked about earlier is so it’s great. I’ve had the honor to kind of grow this into one of the actually the largest angel investment organization in the state of Texas. And what we do is we as a group, think Shark Tank, except we’re not sharks against each other. We are all in one on one team. And so we have created a strong collaborative generation of some of the strongest entrepreneurs and successful people across our market come together to create this organization. And we do is we we see companies every month, they pitch vary. It’s a very process driven or group, we get 30 to 40 companies that’s present their their company, their pitch, their idea, their information, we pick the top 30 We bring them in, and they get 10 minutes to present three minutes of q&a. And then we determine which ones to have follow up conversations on and then we individually write checks, and we help them grow. And we have them scale. So there’s folks that have taken board positions advisory positions, there are some times when we’re just there as a resource or a connection. But we invest in companies that come there in very early startup pre revenue or early revenue companies are typically like under five to 10 million in revenue that our companies are we’re hoping to see a growth we’ll invest in those and so we’ve got come needs that are now like Chicky chicky, for example is in HEB, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, you can buy that drink everywhere. We’ve been an early investor in that. So that’s what we do with it with a mission and mindset of doing exactly what we do is putting our value skill sets to a possible company. And we leverage our connections, our capital, and the people that we have to help that company grow. Okay.
Chad Franzen 20:25
Hey, Rahul. It’s been great to talk to you today. Thank you so much for your time before I let you go tell me how people can find out more about Patel Gaines, F45. Anything else that you have going on?
Rahul B. Patel 20:35
I’m available on LinkedIn, all the social media platforms, but www.patelgaines.com. That’s our website. My personal website is rahulbpatel.com. So it’s rahulbpatel.com. And, you know, I’m pretty active on LinkedIn and on Instagram and also on some of those social channels, but you can always visit our website.
Chad Franzen 21:02
Okay, sounds good. Thanks so much Rahul, really appreciate it.
Rahul B. Patel 21:06
Likewise, thank you so much for having me.
Chad Franzen 21:11
So long, everybody.
Outro 21:11
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