Paul Bhatti via LinkedIn
Every person can look back at their life and identify a big turning point, or that “ah ha” moment that changes their day-to-day lives or routine. Sometimes that moment comes as result of a string of events and sometimes it hits you in the face faster than you can say ouch.
For Paul Bhatti, CEO of Sowingo, his moment came three years ago at his private dental practice in Brampton.
“There was specific moment in time, I came into my practice and had a busy day,” Bhatti recalled. “The person doing the medical supply ordering is usually an assistant. I had asked a few questions about supply and distribution information and I had a hard time getting the answers I needed quickly.”
Bhatti describes running a private practice much like running business. The customer has a demand, his practice must provide the supply. If he doesn’t have it in the timely manner, or his supply is no longer reliable, Bhatti can forget about putting on the lab coat.
“It makes it tough, Bhatti said. “Nothing in the marketplace was addressing this problem of supply management in private practices.”
What did his “ah ha” turn into? Sowingo.com, a dental supply marketplace and inventory management platform.
The once inevitable headache of dental supply management is cured. That’s Bhatti’s firm and educated belief. Now private practitioners can order and organize their inventory in one central place. Access to price comparison shopping, inventory management, dynamic reports and customer support are now at the precise and skilled fingertips of dentists everywhere.
“I started a company that does two things for anybody in private practice health care, said Bhatti. “We do industry management supply, so we track what your supply levels are, what’s expiring, what’s running low, we give you analytics on that. And as an extension of that, we’ve also built a marketplace for suppliers to come on board and showcase their products.” “This is a unique product.”
Now Bhatti lives a life balancing lab coats and three-piece suits. He’s a tech businessman, and although it seems like a wide transition, he assures it’s not as big as it would seem.
“There isn’t as much of a shift as you would think, primarily because I’ve run several private practices,” said Bhatti. “I took a multi-million dollar practice from nothing and learned a lot of business management practices.”
Accounting, marketing, networking, business administration. Bhatti can call himself a seasoned veteran in these areas and he attributes his years of practice in the healthcare world.
His moment led to a real change in the guard, and not just for him. For Bhatti, it’s a real success story he can hang his hat on.
“If you have an entrepreneurial spirit and you have that and it’s something inside you, it’s hard to ignore.”