Duck Dynasty, a reality show on A&E, might seem like an odd place to acquire tips to hire a great startup team. The reality program focuses on the backwater Robertson clan as they juggle a multi-million dollar duck-call-making business with their own natural inclination to just spend all day hunting.
Last season, the finale of Duck Dynasty drew 9.6 million viewers, putting it on the charts as the third most-watched show on television — even the broadcast networks. More impressively, in viewers ages 18 to 49, the little reality show could beat out Fox's American Idol.
The Robertsons have arrived in a major way.
Viewers tune in to watch the hilarious antics of the Robertson clan, but the story of Duck Dynasty is actually a startup success story. Years ago, patriarch Phil Robertson gave up a career in the NFL to follow his dream of turning duck calls into a business. Now his son Willie Robertson runs the company, which rakes in millions of dollars each year and sells way more than just duck calls.
Behind those bushy beards lies quite a bit of business acumen. What startup hiring lessons can you learn from tuning into a Duck Dynasty marathon? Let's take a look.
1. Be Careful Hiring Family and Friends
Duck Commander is a family business through and through. The business employs just about every member of the Robertson clan, from Phil Robertson's sons to their wacky uncle Si. While the show is centered around the importance of family, it also displays the many drawbacks of staffing your startup company with the people you see around the dinner table every night.
Brothers Jase and Willie are always bickering, while Uncle Si seems to spend most of his days trying to nap around the warehouse instead of work. As a television show it makes for gut-bustingly funny episodes, but in real life it could mean hard feelings or the failure of your startup.
Before bringing on your cousin, brother or best friend, take a hard look at whether they're as invested in the company as you are. The people on the ground floor of a startup need to be passionate and willing to go above and beyond to get things accomplished. If your family members don't work out, firing them is going to lead to a lot of awkward moments around the holidays.
2. Know When To Expand
Scaling is a big problem for most startups. In fact, a recent report by The Startup Genome Project found that 75% of startups fail because of premature scaling. One of the big ways startups jump the gun (or shotgun, in keeping with the Duck Dynasty theme) is by hiring a large team. Hiring isn't cheap; the salaries for your superstar team might just bring down your whole operation before it even achieves liftoff.
For Duck Commander, the business was run by the family and a few others, and all duck calls were made by hand. As the show gained in popularity, so too did the company's duck calls. Before the show started, the company sold approximately 60,000 duck calls a year; after the first season that number climbed to more than 300,000.
"We've struggled trying to meet demand. I've hired probably 40 people since the show came out, just trying to maintain that," CEO Willie Robertson told Parade.
The Duck Commander clan ran a lean operation until it made sense to scale hiring. Yet it was still important to hire people with the right skills to make the top-quality product consumers expected.
"Making duck calls is a skill. You can't grab these [employees] off the street and throw a duck call together," Robertson said.
Hiring isn't cheap, yet as a startup you need to stay cost-efficient even while you scale. This is why startup companies should focus on shortening the traditional hiring process. While the nature-loving, technology-phobic Phil Robertson might not approve, new hiring technology is making it easier for startups to find the best people faster than the 34-day average.
Technology like social media and video interviews make it easy to connect with talented candidates on a more personal level, so you can spend your time connecting with the best people for the job. Tapping into a social-media talent community or connecting personally on a video interview can help stressed-out startup founders save both time and money. As Phil Robertson would say, there's no better way to make entrepreneurs "happy, happy, happy."
3. Establish A Unique Company Brand
The beards, the camouflage, the archery contests in the office — the Duck Dynasty crew has its own unique company culture. Your startup can learn a lot about the do's and don'ts of establishing a great employer brand by looking at the Duck Commander office.
Don't be afraid to be unique. There's certainly no such thing as business attire at the Duck Commander office, and it works just fine for the company.
Do put limits on company culture perks. Sure, basketball in the office is great, and can really attract fun-loving and smart candidates. But if your workers are playing a game of pickup and not working, you're not really getting the value out of your employees.
Do hire employees who are passionate. While the Robertson clan and their employees might spend a lot of time goofing off, they clearly love their industry and believe in their product. The best employees will be the ones who will spark innovative ideas and help your business keep moving forward. So in the interviewing process, whether you're meeting in person or through online video, make sure to look for sincere career passion.
As a family-run small business that has grown into a multi-million dollar company, there's plenty you can learn about hiring the right people for your startup company from the Duck Dynasty clan.
What are some startup hiring lessons you can take from Duck Dynasty? Let us know in the comments.
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