A regional dental group filed suit this week against their SaaS vendor after being locked out of years of patient records due to a billing dispute. They missed one invoice. The vendor flipped the switch. Patients couldn’t get prescriptions. Staff couldn’t access notes.

Fam, this isn’t just a billing issue—it’s a cautionary tale.

Small businesses are too often at the mercy of platforms they don’t control. If your data lives in someone else’s house, don’t be shocked when they change the locks.

My advice? Always keep a local export. Prefer platforms with offline modes or open formats. And when evaluating vendors, ask yourself: Can I leave if I need to? If the answer’s no, you’ve got a hostage situation, not a solution.