Lithium batteries and shaving cream: inside Treet Corp’s latest diversification

There are big new plans for both the battery and blade verticals. Will they prove to be the dawn of a new age for a grand old company?

Treet is one of Pakistan’s grand old companies. Established in the 1950s, the company has spent most of its history dominating its core business interests: razor blades and soap. With more than 85% in market share, Treet Corp has very much been a Pakistani success story. But as time passes, grand old companies often suffer from very typical symptoms.

When any company that begins to dominate the market to great extent, it is understood that any effort to grow further will have diminishing marginal returns. The effort and resources being used do not yield the same results as they once did. This is usually the point when companies get complacent or start to take success for granted. Oftentimes, when such businesses are family owned, the emergence of these symptoms coincide with the entrance of the second or third generation onto the scene.

That is when the real test begins. On the one hand there is the question of the new generation itself. Is it made of the same iron as the preceding generations that built the business up? On the other hand there is the other big question that successful businesses face: what is the best way to expand and grow after you have already won one market?