3 Underrated Lessons on Entrepreneurship: Accountability, Prioritization, and Getting It Done

              It’s crazy to say but TrickTape will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary not too long from now – February 2026!

              I’ve had a lot of personal and professional growth along the way, and building a business from scratch teaches in a way a “traditional” 9-to-5 job might not.

              It came at a funny (and what I’d consider one of the more challenging parts of life) – your early twenties.

              Now don’t get me wrong, there are more pros than cons to being say, 23 years old…but it comes with pains too as you’ve outgrown many support structures (like school) and are starting to understand that being an adult doesn’t suddenly mean you’ve figured your whole life out.

You may even be more confused than ever, discovering your role models are flawed human beings, too.

              When starting my “entrepreneurial journey” (that’s such an annoying thing to say, I won’t do it again), there’s this tremendous sense of freedom – making your own hours, not having a boss telling you what to do…but what few people will tell you, is that freedom comes at a hefty price.

              There’s a definitive sense of comfort when someone with more experience is setting targets and holding you accountable…I’ve always been one to hold myself to high standards, but it’s hard to appreciate the scaffolding and safety that comes with the “traditional” path, until it goes away.

              It feels a bit like being dropped off on a deserted island, looking around, and thinking…so now what?

              What the entrepreneur ecosystem doesn’t talk about is now you have to hold yourself accountable. That’s a difficult muscle to grow, especially when there are no immediate consequences for missing a commitment.

You said you were going to have that prototype finished by the end of the year and now it’s late January…well it’s not like you had a prototype to begin with so things kinda feel the same as they did before! No big deal, right? Or maybe you were gonna make an Instagram post today, but hey it’s getting late so why not just do it tomorrow.

In the moment there aren’t any negative outcomes because no one is holding your feet to the fire…but that’s the “easy” hard part. The “easy” hard part is that you won’t feel the consequences of procrastination or lack of self-accountability until weeks, months, maybe years later.

That’s the first lesson – developing your accountability muscle.

The “hard” hard part? It’s not that the consequences (results) are delayed…the hard hard part is figuring out if there were any results – at all.

Did (writing this blog, for example) get me one step closer to my goals? Tough to tell.

Therein lies the second lesson – prioritizing what matters.

Every morning when you wake up, there’s an infinite number of things to work on. Do I spend time making sales calls? Creating social media content? Optimizing SEO? Building inventory to fulfill orders? (Side note, I’ve put literally tens of thousands of patches into packs over the years).

It’s tough to choose what to focus on!

When everything’s important, how do I prioritize? What is the best use of my time?

It’s very difficult to figure out and requires paying close attention plus a BUNCH of trial and error. Particularly understanding what your strong suits are and what you should do yourself, while being realistic with what you aren’t good at and are better off having someone else to do…because there’s only so much time in the day.

OR, you can fool yourself by being busy but not productive – meaning you do something that takes up a lot of hours but isn’t accomplishing your goals. Cold calling could (somewhat) fall into this category, but it’s basically throwing everything against the wall and praying something sticks.

Personally, I have a full-time job in the “corporate” world and am continually shocked by how few people understand how to prioritize their work and focus on the handful of things that actually make a difference.

I’m very grateful for having learned to grow that muscle early in life by building TrickTape.

So there’s a couple big ones – holding yourself accountable and figuring out just what the heck to focus on each day.

The final lesson? You learn how to get shit done – plain and simple. Get past the finish line, no matter what. Just Find a Way.

The most successful people in business aren’t the smartest or necessarily the hardest working – but they definitely know how to execute. They finish what they start and move onto the next way to improve.

How do you make a fabric tape?

No clue.

Research a bunch of fabrics online. Research a bunch of adhesives. Make phone calls, drive to the LA fabric district (yes that’s a thing). Email manufacturers, get samples, get quotes, get screwed…find a new manufacturer. Keep moving forward.

How do you build and market a website?

Haven’t the foggiest idea.

No problem. Research, reach out, try, fail, adapt, and try again. (Kinda sounds like skateboarding, yeah?)

Not having a clear path forward stops most people. But that’s the standard when building a business. Figure it out.

Little by little.

And the great news is you start to understand and build awareness of what creates results. Better than anyone else ever could.

Look at that – now you’re the type of person who can prioritize, be accountable, and execute. Every business should teach these skills, and everyone can learn them.

It’s a powerful skillset and something worth developing no matter what course you chart.

The painting I chose for this post is called "Breezing Up" by Winslow Homer, depicting a young group of sailors relaxed and steady through choppy seas, reflecting the optimism of a young America.