Phil Robertson Essay

Phil Robertson: Successful Business Entrepreneur

Elizabeth Smith

June 12, 2016

Many may know Phil Robertson from his hit show Duck Dynasty, very few know about what he went through, what he had to give up to be where he is now.

Phil Robertson is one of the most successful business entrepreneur. Phil went to college at Louisiana Tech, where he had a future as a starting back in the NFL standing right beside his good friend Terry Bradshaw. He gave up that dream because it interfered with his favorite time of year… Duck hunting season. In 1973, the duck commander duck call was created. Since then it has been the most trusted brand in duck calls.

In his twenties, he reached an all-time low, and resorted to drugs and alcohol. He abandoned

his family for a while and decided to turn his life around to be the father he has to be. The Robertson’s were a poor family growing up, raising a family of 6 in a 1,400 square foot house and one bathroom. While Phil’s wife Kay took care of the kids inside the house, getting them ready for bed and such, he was in their small shed in the back yard making duck calls.
Before their hit show, Duck Dynasty hit the air, the company was successful making approximately 60,000 duck calls. Shortly after to the present, they are making well over 300,000 duck calls per year. The show has been a huge hit and has really helped with the sales for the company.
Phil Robertson has some great psychological characteristics in himself that also helps him to be a successful entrepreneur.

His lifelong dream was making duck calls, and he did nothing short of that. He made it happen and was very confident in the outcome as well. Making the perfect call takes time and I am sure Phil went through a lot of ideas to get to that perfect call. In order to achieve something such as the duck call, you have to have some creativity and patience to get there. How does one know how to make an object sound exactly like a duck and how do you know if it really works? You have to test it out and if it doesn’t work, you go back to the drawing boards. It is a long process, especially for one person to handle. He was determined to get it right, right for him and right for his family. The amount of money that he had to put into making duck calls did put a little dent in his family’s financial situation but the outcome was well worth

it.
To me, Phil has all four faces of an entrepreneur.

He would have to explore different ways to make the duck call successful. It isn’t a one shot deal, it takes trials and errors to make it perfect. Being an artist ties in with being an Explorer to me. In this case, you have to be very artistic in details about how this thing is being constructed. Being the judge of your own work could be tough sometimes. You have to figure out the pricing of the product, the time required to make it, and the chance of success. The warrior is going to battle for ideas that the judge will approve and does whatever it takes. In addition to the duck call, he has out different calls such as a buck call. Being able to expand and improve the older models is a good change. Having a multi-million dollar business, he has hired his sons to join in on the business. They all discuss and bring ideas to the table about different products to bring in

income.
Not all entrepreneur’s start out on top, some actually start at the bottom. Becoming one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world after battling a life of drug and alcohol abuse, abandoning family, and being poor is the biggest success of all. Truly one of best motivator of it all, knowing you don’t need money to be successful. Just a dream.

References

Behind The Beards Of 'Duck Dynasty' - Inside Edition. (n.d.). Retrieved June 12, 2016, from http://www.insideedition.com/entertainment/7525-behind-the-beards-of-duck-dynasty

Crossley, J., Jamieson, L., Brayley, R.(2012) Introduction to commercial recreation and tourism: an entrepreneurial approach. Urbana, IL: Sagamore Publishing.

Huspeni, A. (2013). How the Robertsons of Duck Dynasty Conquered America. Retrieved June 12, 2016, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228498

Ducks Make Phil Robertson a Millionaire. (n.d.). Retrieved June 12, 2016, from http://www.therichest.com/expensive-lifestyle/entertainment/ducks-make-phil-robertson-a-millionaire/