The Mistake That Almost Bankrupted His Dental Company (ft. Cory Pinegar)

If you've ever found yourself saying, "Wait...we used to do that," you're not alone. That's one of the reasons Alex created Milo...to give practices a simple way to document systems and keep teams accountable. Check it out at https://startmilo.com This Week's Episode A few years later, he was buried in debt, chasing growth, and wondering if the whole thing was going to work. Today, Reach has thousands of team members supporting healthcare practices around the world, but getting there wasn't nearly as smooth as it looked from the outside. We talked about the mistakes he made while building Call Force, the vanity metrics that almost got him in trouble, and why he eventually made the difficult decision to completely pivot the business. Cory shares how he transformed Call Force from a recall and answering service company into Reach, one of the largest virtual staffing companies in healthcare. We also got into staffing, rising overhead, reimbursement rates, virtual assistants, and why building a sustainable business matters more than looking successful. This was one of those conversations that started as a business story and turned into a discussion about growth, leadership, and failure. Topics we cover: • Buying a business for $1 while still in college • Why CallForce nearly failed • The dangers of chasing vanity metrics • The pivot from CallForce to Reach • Debt, cash flow, and scaling a business • Hiring and retention challenges in dentistry • Why dental practices are feeling squeezed • Virtual assistants and the future of staffing • Building a sustainable business • The mindset shifts that come from failure Sponsor Shoutouts Darkhorse Tech provides proactive IT support, cybersecurity, backups, and monitoring specifically for dental offices. Special offer for JACD listeners: First month free. 🌐 https://www.darkhorsetech.com Tired of losing thousands every year to credit card fees? Nadapayments helps dental offices legally and compliantly offset processing costs with surcharging. Special offer for JACD listeners: $25/month + 1.5% + $0.25 per debit transaction. No other fees. 🌐 https://www.nadapayments.com Check out their free savings calculator to see how much money you are wasting with traditional merchant service companies https://nada-calculator-dentalpractic... Connect With Us Your support means a ton to us. So if you enjoyed the episode, please share Just a Couple of Dentists with a friend or colleague. Thanks so much!