Please don't waste your money! It always depends upon location, but I'd be very surprised if you were able to compete. The supermarkets sell so cheap now you will struggle. Just have a drive around and see how many old petrol stations are now being used for hand car washes!
I'm not sure if the £500k figure above is realistic, but do you have capital? Have you done any research?
I'm not sure if the £500k figure above is realistic, but do you have capital? Have you done any research?
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E
Esk247
- Original Poster
- #4
The only place for new petrol stations are in tourist areas where you can strap a small caravan park on the back of it...they have one near scarborough, petrol station and shop with park/caravans/statics etc behind, everyone who stays there gets petrol on the way out as well as paying for the caravans and camping.
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Can echo that, small independent garage small seaside resort, also does car repairs.
Poppy xx
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Here in Kent small petrol stations (not Shell, Esso, BT etc...) are closing down weekly! And those that somehow manage to stay open are having to charge a fortune for the petrol/diesel to make it work, even with the shop sales etc...
I really think you have to be in exactly the right area to make this work or the big boys will eat you for breakfast.
Matt
I really think you have to be in exactly the right area to make this work or the big boys will eat you for breakfast.
Matt
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This is one of those businesses that demand large inputs of cash for small returns. Therefore , you would only ever do it if the location was the dogs bs
I suspect it is not so walk away. Also if you had the several hundred K that this will take to make and even half job of it you could make so much more in other businesses.
You have to be thinking in several hundred k of free cash to invest and a bit more for cash flow at best £300k and most likely much, much more. That sort of money if you have it is not worth putting into this idea.
I suspect it is not so walk away. Also if you had the several hundred K that this will take to make and even half job of it you could make so much more in other businesses.
You have to be thinking in several hundred k of free cash to invest and a bit more for cash flow at best £300k and most likely much, much more. That sort of money if you have it is not worth putting into this idea.
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Not sure about selling cars either.Use that space for a cafe,good margins on food and drinks.
Where are you thinking of having your "petrol station"?
These people have 260 of them for sale.Maybe that tells you something!
http://www.daltonsbusiness.com/buy/...sinesses-for-sale/petrol-and-filling-stations
Lots of regulations also.72 pages here to be getting you going.
http://www.energyinst.org.uk/content/files/file366.pdf
Safety courses for you to attend.
http://www.smtsgroup.com/site/courses.cfm?course_id=15&type=all&pagenumber=1
More bad news I'm sorry
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7306967.stm
Where are you thinking of having your "petrol station"?
These people have 260 of them for sale.Maybe that tells you something!
http://www.daltonsbusiness.com/buy/...sinesses-for-sale/petrol-and-filling-stations
Lots of regulations also.72 pages here to be getting you going.
http://www.energyinst.org.uk/content/files/file366.pdf
Safety courses for you to attend.
http://www.smtsgroup.com/site/courses.cfm?course_id=15&type=all&pagenumber=1
More bad news I'm sorry
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7306967.stm
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Not sure where the OP is.It could be 2 in the afternoon where he/she is.
Not that that answers your question!
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Drive through any major town or down any major A road and you will see the roadsides littered with boarded up petrol stations or stations which are now "Hand car wash2.
You can make money out of fuels BUT you have to sell a huige amount:
Unless you are doing at least 4.5 milion+ litres a years plus you will need additional substantial streams of income off the site you are not going to make money.
Time was when a village fuel station could charge a substantial premium because they could rely on a local almost captive audeienfe those days have gone.
The bulk of retail fuel is sold through supermarket sites who can slash their pump price and starve you out as the combination of Tesco and Sainsbury have done in my town.
If you have other activities you will need to employ someone to man the till. You will be making 3.5-5p per litre gross - how many litres per hour just to pay minimum wage?
When working out your cash flow remember that at any one time you will have £40k+ tied up in fuel stock - that is cash not on credit as most fueld wholsesalers require bacs payment on delivery.
You can make money out of fuels BUT you have to sell a huige amount:
Unless you are doing at least 4.5 milion+ litres a years plus you will need additional substantial streams of income off the site you are not going to make money.
Time was when a village fuel station could charge a substantial premium because they could rely on a local almost captive audeienfe those days have gone.
The bulk of retail fuel is sold through supermarket sites who can slash their pump price and starve you out as the combination of Tesco and Sainsbury have done in my town.
If you have other activities you will need to employ someone to man the till. You will be making 3.5-5p per litre gross - how many litres per hour just to pay minimum wage?
When working out your cash flow remember that at any one time you will have £40k+ tied up in fuel stock - that is cash not on credit as most fueld wholsesalers require bacs payment on delivery.
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It's not possible to turn a profit from a petrol station unless it's tied into other things you do. And you can't possibly link it to anything big enough to make it work. Esso, Shell etc used to make money by selling very expensive sandwiches and twix bars in the attached shop, but they have had to cut back these prices as well now. This is because TESCO and friends started opening sites which sell cheap petrol, and also supermarket priced grub inside. Bottom line being that hardly any petrol station makes a worthy profit overall. TESCO want to have them because they don't want Somerfield etc to have them. The oil companies (which drill/refine) obviously make a better margin on the product, so thats their angle sorted.
What would the OP's angle be though? There is no benefit of cross pollination, as whatever extra footfall the petrol station bought to the attached business, would be lost by the attached businesses effectively supporting the petrol station. And they would support it. Petrol stations alone actually lose money.
What would the OP's angle be though? There is no benefit of cross pollination, as whatever extra footfall the petrol station bought to the attached business, would be lost by the attached businesses effectively supporting the petrol station. And they would support it. Petrol stations alone actually lose money.
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Location isn't enough to comment on really. As has been said, generally independant petrol stations just don't work anymore. Unless you are in a particular position to offer something the thousands of failed attempts have not been (and unless you state what it might be!) then it's hard to say anything good about the idea.
For example, I sell what I sell because I was in a good position to secure good supply terms and I had an idea that would quickly secure me a big chunk of my reachable market - hence I'm doing fine. Had I decided to sell the same things, with the same me in the driving seat but had not been in the same starting position it would have failed. No matter how hard I'd worked and how closely I followed the text book of good business, it would have failed had justification for success not existed.
Justify your idea in full, why will it succeed where others have not?
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The idea is to redevelop an old site on a major route the A1 linking north to south, with lots of passing traffic. The nearest filling station before the site is 26 miles and after the site is 22 miles. I am exploring the fuel supply options with Esso and Total. If you can throw any light on the basics it would help.
perrymehta
perrymehta
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I have considerable experience in this arena, having been in the motor trade most of my life before setting up my own business.
Setting up a business of this kind is VERY cash hungry, and finding the right location is key to start with. Selling fuels is not particularly profitable, but it does draw people in, especially if you are at a good location.
As a general rule, however, we closed the fuel stations we had, and turned the space over to selling cars!
Advising on creating a business of this nature is too big a challenge for a couple of posts on here, however, but you are welcome to give me your contact details, and I would be happy to chat.
The business you are potentially looking at is one requiring multiple skills, and a few staff! A car showroom, a convenience store, and a fuel station. All very different. But it can work, and it does work, for many people!
Setting up a business of this kind is VERY cash hungry, and finding the right location is key to start with. Selling fuels is not particularly profitable, but it does draw people in, especially if you are at a good location.
As a general rule, however, we closed the fuel stations we had, and turned the space over to selling cars!
Advising on creating a business of this nature is too big a challenge for a couple of posts on here, however, but you are welcome to give me your contact details, and I would be happy to chat.
The business you are potentially looking at is one requiring multiple skills, and a few staff! A car showroom, a convenience store, and a fuel station. All very different. But it can work, and it does work, for many people!
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Whilst it is possible you have found a location that can work as a petrol station, you still need to consider two things:
1) Why have the big players not moved in? The capable opening a petrol station very quickly if an opportunity presents itself.
2) Even if the big players have genuinly overlooked a good opportunity here, it won't last long before they move in if your place does well. Assume your start up capital/loan takes 10 years to repay, they could be moved in next door within 2 years if your acounts show something they want a piece of - and they can undercut you for as long as they need to leave you with a worthless site and a big outlay that you can never recoup.
Your problem is not that you are incapable of finding a good place to run a petrol station and then run it well, you may be quite capable of that much. The problem is that for at least the last ten years only the bigger players have prospered and there is no protection for the independant traders.
You are competing against players that make money in two stages each time a customer fills up whearas you can make money only once, therfore they can always be cheaper. The supermarkets sell fuel at cost and make money from the shoppers using the store, the fuel companies sell petrol at forecourt cost and make money on bringing the crude in and refining it.
Why, in such a market, do you want to get involved?
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