All things, such as trends, industries and relations, have a tipping point. The tipping point is when things reach a breaking point and change occurs. Sometimes it is a planned or calculated change, other times it just happens due to odd circumstances and unique timing. Tipping points can be small or monumental. One tipping point we are all aware of is the pricing tipping point. Contractors, suppliers and manufacturers all live and die by the tipping point of the price. On a larger scale, we can price ourselves out of market. This occurs when we all become too expensive and that tipping point shifts the momentum in the other direction.
We have a great case study in the plastering and drywall industry. In the early 1950s, the preeminent interior finish was gypsum lath with a 3/8-inch sanded gypsum plaster basecoat covered with a finish (or “putty” coat). It is safe to say that by the middle of the last century, 80-90 percent of our buildings had lath and plaster interiors. A mere 25 years later, drywall had supplanted gypsum plaster and the market share for real “lath and plaster” dropped to less than 10 percent.