KickGrass Lawncare is a service that cares for lawns in a large, affluent community. Shawn Overgrowth, the owner, is considering the purchase of new zero-turn riding lawn tractors, which would allow him to expand his business. The tractors cost $6300 each, and he would purchase two of them. Another alternative is to purchase three additional mowers of the current type to add to his current equipment. Those would cost $475 apiece.
Or he could face the coming gardening season with his existing equipment. Shawn estimates that in a good growing season, the tractors would allow him to expand his business by $40,000. But if the summer is hot and dry (so lawns don’t grow) or cold and wet (ditto), he’d only be able to add about $15,000 in contracts. If he purchases the mowers, he could expand his business by $10,000 in a good year or by just $5000 in a bad one. And if he spends nothing, he won’t expand his business. In a bad year, his income would contract by about $1000.
Construct a payoff table and tree diagram for Shawn’s decision. Don’t forget to include his expenses in the calculations.