Profiles in Business: Peter and Richard Asch: Twincraft Soaps

Vermont Business Magazine, Nov 01, 2004 by Marcel, Joyce

To stay ahead of the game, the company partners with soap base producers to stay abreast If developments in other parts of the world. A soap that is making news in Europe, for example, might not be known in the US. Twincraft can exploit the new idea for the American market.

"Many products that we've created, we've been told, 'No, you can't do that. It's impossible,"' Peter said. "And we have a great staff here who also may sometimes say 'no,' but are willing to try and experiment and innovate. And lo and behold, things that we've been told are impossible to do, we're doing well now."

In order to keep the company growing, the Asches hire top-level people and reward them well. They recently made the business news, for example, when they gave their COO, Larry Litke, an equity shareholder in the company. Although they would not reveal how the deal was structured, it was not done out of a necessity to raise additional capital, Peter said.

"He proved himself to be a good and committed partner of ours," Peter said. "One way to stay very motivated and to have a trusting relationship among partners is to allow them to have an equity position." Sharing responsibility is important, he said.

"That way we can get home and be with our kids, and be good parents and have a life," Peter said. "I'm a big believer in balance, which means this business is part of what I do, but it must never become who I am or what I'm all about."

A Great Place to Do Business

By making technically accomplished, unusual and upscale soaps, the brothers are able to keep Twincraft in Vermont.

"Instead of spending $5 million on labor," Peter said, "I could go to China and spend $500,000 and get, frankly, labor that's equally as competent as we have here. For commodity products. But we chose to make specialty products, which allows us to stay in Vermont. It's like Ben & Jerry's. It's a specialty item, it requires a lot more brain power, flexibility and expertise."

"At the risk of sounding arrogant about it, we're very, very good at what we do," Richard said. "We're quite buttoned down in manufacturing, we're speedy, we're nimble, and we can make product and compete globally. And in Vermont, that's a real trick."

According to Peter, an offer to buy Twincraft comes in the door every week; they have no interest in selling.

"We enjoy what we do and we've got a good business," Peter said. "In the future, we're becoming ever more technicallyoriented, ever more efficient in manufacturing, and that will allow us to grow, and grow succcssfully, and continue to be here as a successful company in the state of Vermont."

Vermont is a great place to do business, Peter said.

"I love doing business here," Peter said. "It's a compassionate place. It's a good place to live. Is it the cheapest business state? Is it a place where employees are lining up at the door because they have no place else to work? Of course not. There's a lot more corporate welfare in many other states."

The price for that corporate welfare is that you cannot live full-time in Vermont, Peter said.