The Leadership Insider network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in business contribute answers to timely questions about careers and leadership. Today’s answer to the question “What’s the best mistake you ever made?” is written by Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite.
I was three years into a four-year business degree. And I was impatient.
I had always known I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I started washing windows for extra pocket money when I was a kid. By the time I was in high school, I had turned one of my hobbies – paintball – into a viable business. I opened a paintball field and used the profits to sell equipment. It came time to attend college and truthfully, I wasn’t 100% sure it was for me, but I gave into convention and enrolled in a business program. From the beginning, it felt like I was moving in slow motion. Our first-year economics textbook introduced topics like supply and demand, marketing, and diversification – all of which I already knew plenty about.
But I stuck with it. The prospect of being a “college dropout” was scary. Then, the summer before my final year, I made a decision: I wasn’t going back. I quickly got used to hearing “you’re making a mistake,” from my friends and counselors. Turns out, it was the best mistake I ever made.
When I returned home, I quickly dove back into my first passion – running a business. This time it was a pizza joint. Why? Well, the margins are huge…plus I loved pizza. I leased a space and bought equipment using a credit card with a $20,000 limit. I was a one-man show, responsible for everything from ordering supplies to making the pizzas, manning the cash register, mopping the floors, and marketing — you name it, I did it. It wasn’t glamorous work (days were always long), but I was happy.
And, even though I didn’t know it at the time, I was getting a crash course on how startups work. I got used to being strapped for cash and getting more out of less. I learned how to wear different hats – to be good at a lot of things even if I wasn’t an expert at any. I had to think on my feet, juggle a dozen pressing problems, and do so without losing my cool. I learned the supreme importance of good customer service. I also discovered that Hawaiian slices easily outsell any other variety – seriously.
Eventually, I realized I was destined to build something bigger than just a pizza shop. By now, the ‘90s tech boom was in full swing. Computers had always been an interest of mine — ever since I won an Apple IIc in a programming contest during the 5th grade. I wanted in on the action. So, after a year or so of selling pizzas I unloaded my restaurant and used the profits to move from my hometown in rural Canada to the big city — Vancouver. I taught myself some coding and, with the money I had saved, opened an agency that designed web pages and web tools.
My timing was terrible. The tech bubble burst right after I set up shop. Overnight, dot-com became a dirty word and investors began avoiding startups like the plague. Fortunately, all those nights pounding dough and chopping pepperoni led to another important lesson: persistence. I pieced together enough work (and ate enough ramen) to survive the lean times. Eventually, the business began to grow: starting with two employees…then expanding to ten…and eventually twenty after a few years.
Then, fate smiled on me. Social media was beginning to change everything. Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR) had made the jump from the dorm room to the mainstream and companies were trying to adapt as quickly as possible. At my agency, we hacked together a tool to manage multiple networks from one page and Hootsuite was born. It was a simple idea, but it caught on fast.
Today, Hootsuite has 11 million users, including some of the biggest Fortune 100 companies. We have more than 700 employees in a half-dozen offices around the world. And each day I get to work with some of the most talented engineers, designers, and marketing minds in the tech world. Would I be here if I had stuck it out and got my business degree? I doubt it. I followed my heart (and stomach) and dropped out to sell pizzas. And that made all the difference.
Read all answers to the Leadership Insider question: What’s the best mistake you ever made?
My best career mistake: Not asking for help by Sandhya Venkatachalam, partner and co-founder of Centerview Capital.
My best career mistake: quitting my job for love by David Reese, vice president of people and culture at Medallia.
From rags to riches: What one CEO learned from his biggest mistake by Ryan Smith, CEO and founder of Qualtrics.
Does the perfect employee really exist? by Ryan Harwood, CEO of PureWow.
Confessions of a startup founder: What I learned from my $5K mistake by Sunil Rajaraman, Co-Founder, Scripted.com.
How to fail (wisely) by David DeWolf, CEO and President of 3Pillar Global.
How to make the most of your mistakes by Tough Mudder CEO Will Dean.
Watch more business news from Fortune: