Diego Orjuela is the founder and CEO at Cables and Sensors, recently ranked #377 on the Inc 500 fastest-growing companies in America. He is a 14-year eCommerce entrepreneur. Follow him @orjueladiego. 

Who is your hero? (In business, life, or both.)

Anyone who takes an idea and turns it into a multimillion-dollar company. Everyone should get a medal for making it.

What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?

The single most important piece of advice I received was from one of my mentors. “Business takes twice as long and costs twice as much as you’ll ever plan,” she said. I proved the advice wrong. Turns out it costs four times as much and takes four times as long.

What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?

My biggest mistake was taking external funding. Turns out you don’t need money to start a great company. Being hungry makes you resourceful and gets you thinking straight.

What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?

Prioritize my inbox to address all client-related issues first and non-critical emails next.

What’s your best financial/cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?

Don’t take any money from the business for the first few years. Try to have a second job that pays the bills and put all the money you earn from your company back into it.

Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?

Don’t be a perfectionist. Get your next project launched quickly, and be comfortable with mediocrity. Get the market to tell you if they need what you are offering, then perfect it.

What’s your definition of success? How will you know when you’ve finally “succeeded” in your business?

When I can spend less time working on the business and more time with the people I love.