Episode 46: The Legal Side of Your Business with Lauren Ruiz

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Do you own a small business or are you thinking about starting one? Then today’s podcast is for you. Welcome to episode 46, we’re talking to Lauren Ruiz, a local lawyer for small businesses.  We not only dive into all the things a small business owner might need to know about the law, but also how her unique practice is offering solutions for other small business owners!  We loved talking with Lauren to learn about all of the knowledge she has around small business practice and we can’t wait to share it with you!

SETTING GOALS

Lauren Ruiz is a small business transaction lawyer.  Explaining what she does is nearly impossible for us as she is able to help in all corners of a business, to clarify, a small portion of all the incredible things she helps others with is working on her client’s contracts, business strategy, company hiring, as well as independent contracting.  She is basically her client’s business support system on a day to day level

Lauren grew up with her parents being small business owners in Phoenix.  When she would think about her goals and what her future held, she always knew that she wanted to be a small business owner.  The lifestyle she had growing up was something she always knew she wanted to incorporate in her adult life.

BECOMING A LAWYER

Lauren received her finance degree and her entrepreneurship degree and thought the natural path for her was to go on to get her MBA.  As she started to finish school, she felt that it wasn’t her best fit.  She met law students during her entrepreneurship program at the University of Arizona and knew it was where she wanted to be. 

For three years she did in-house at the global company, Honeywell, negotiating their aerospace engineering contracts.  It fueled her fire and made her realize she needed to bring her knowledge to small businesses and make it accessible for owners in Phoenix.

She knew small businesses would want someone they could meet with face to face and be able to trust.  Being able to meet with female groups in the valley helped her not only find new clients but helped her network and receive support from like-minded women.  Lauren really enjoys working with the women of Phoenix and wants to continue to build her very small clients base so she can remain accessible to her clients when they need her.

HER ADVICE

Lauren says, contracts should not be drafted once and never changed again, they are growing documents that should be changed as your business grows.  Lauren loves when her clients are proactive and loves when she can help them make changes as the environment changes around them.  It is important to use your experiences to help build your contract to work for the future of your business.  Her advice to us was to use a lawyer, or at least a second pair of eyes, when negotiating a contract with another party.

Lauren does flat rate pricing by the minute so that her clients are getting the amount of work needed for a fair price.  Additionally, she decided to incorporate a membership into her business where she does up to two hours of legal work with her client each month to make sure their legal needs are always met.

We absolutely loved having Lauren Ruiz on the podcast this week. She is such an incredible resource for small businesses in Phoenix and really knows what each company needs in order to remain successful!

SOCIAL MEDIA

@thelaurenruiz