Dear Friends,

i want to know how flexible and profitable is to start a Gas Station/Convinience store business in Canada. How much would be the investment , is it a good idea to start as small time on partnership basis.

Thanks

I am interested too. Please reply to this post.
Any desi with Gas Station expertise?

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Ab Raj karay Gee Junta!

in a land of limited opportunities

i think u will do better in boston even if u were on a secondary route

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hate blaster

i guess its a really a hard work.
less margine 2 to 4 cents/l
no more ideas.

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Special Requests: Please call me after 5:30 because I am self-employed and my employer does not know I am looking for another job

I worked at a gas station while putting myself through school in US. I also did accounting work for the owner. So I have some idea about financials of his gas station.

It is a good business as long as you have a good location and good franchise and you are willing to look after the gas station yourself majority of the time and willing to become cashier when one of your regular call in sick.

The guy, I worked for, was generating 100k almost every month in revenues with in few months of opening the gas station. His gas station operated 24x7 was in a big city, not so good neighborhood, and couple of gas stations were nearby ( 1- 2 blocks). It wasn't near a highway/freeway but busy city street. He built the station from scratch and invested approx. $1 mil, included bulletproof glass for the cashier cabin, close circuit camera, car wash, one oil change service bay, air and vacuum pump. That was 1991-92.

I started working for him as cashier in night shift few months after he opened the gas station. Actually, later on he became my mentor and advisor. After few years of running it by himself, he decided to lease it to someone else for the monthly rent + % of revenue (or profit not sure). Even after leasing, he mentioned that his share was about $1 mil from the gas station (about 8 years after he started).

I consider his gas station to be exception than norm. He was very good businessman and a lot of his profitable gas business came from fleets and other accounts.

Margins on gas are low but you make up for that by convenience store and other services.

IMO, there is no small time in gas station unless you open no-name in a remote location. You may do well if you open in between two cities on a major artery where people commute/travel by car frequently between two cities.

Hi mekalasr....

gas stations in toronto is similar to boston i did live in boston for a few years most of them are operated by lebanese if u want to lease a gastation in toronto with a convenience store u have to come with a serious money over 500k and not easy to find as all the good locations are not easy to get margine lets say the lowest 3 cents per liter for the
regular which is like 11 cents for us galon 3.87 liter and u know not too bad and as u know the plus and premuim are more profitable as the margine higher so if u got a gas station with avarge sale of 3000 to 5000
galons a day will cover all ur expence from rent to employee to heat to credit card fees ect. and i would leave extra few thousand plus all the store profit will be yours don't forget the lotto and cigarettes it is $8.00 per pack so the margine is hi the bottom line it is a very good business but not as easy as boston to get into it as the stations are bigger here unless u want to go to out of town will be less expensive but also boring
good luck....

Gas station industry Tips!

1. Common mistakes made by 1st time Gas Station Investors!

Under or over estimating your gas station forecasted financials.

Under capitalizing.

Lacking the operational gas station experience.

Choosing a poor location.

Not including your risk factors into your gas station business plan.



2. See below for some security tips and measures to think about for your gas station and convenience store.

Installing a closed-circuit TV at the cash register so customers can see that they are being watched. This can alleviate a lot of in store theft by employees.

Also installing a security camera by the cash register so you the owner can watch the actions of your convenience store cashier.

Try installing an automated bill reader/cash counter built into your safe for added security measures.

Count your cigarettes and lottery daily and your beer/wine and soda weekly. This is a good action to do to make sure customers or employees are not stealing from you. NOTE: Also double check your purchase order when merchandise is delivered to your convenience store. There have been stories of gas station owners not receiving their complete beer or soda orders. (If you (gas station owner) ordered 10 cases of beer, make sure you check that 10 cases of the beer you ordered was delivered).

Place mirrors in places where customers will not expect to see them. This has proven to cut down theft by 60 percent.

Prosecute offenders so it never happens again and let it be an example for other possible theft attempters.



3. See below for a list of merchandise that is purchased in a convenience store by gas station customers. (Test was conducted over a one month span.)

Sodas 45%

Candy/Gum 41%

Lottery Tickets 39%

Salty Snacks 35%

Fountain/Frozen Drinks 30%

Hot Drinks 30%

Water 30%

Dairy Products 30%

Cigarettes 29%

Fast Food 25%

Beer/Wine 19%



4. Cigarette Fines!

Always check your customers ID to save yourself from being fined up to $6,000 if your caught selling cigarettes to a minors.



5. The most popular gasoline purchased at gas stations!

Unleaded Regular 87%

Premium Unleaded 9%

Super Unleaded 4%

Diesel 1%

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Special Requests: Please call me after 5:30 because I am self-employed and my employer does not know I am looking for another job