The other day, i was driving down one of the main roads here in Miami, and noticed i needed gas. I went to stop at a gas station, but the entire darn thing was packed... So i went to the other one across the street. Any how, there is such a high demand in fuel, that even with this economy fuel is #1 in demand. I was thinking about opening one up, but i wanted to see if there are any current or previous gas station owners on the forum and wanted to get there advice. Just a couple general question.....


I was talking to my father, maybe seeing if he wanted to go half on me ( one of the only people i can trust ) and he was explaining to me that we needed 1 million to open it up..

Wanted to get some of your opinions on my current investment.

Gas stations are closing all over Chicagoland or changing brands(Citgo to Shell, etc.). I believe the margins on gas is ridiculously low here in Illinois and if you don't have a mini mart or 7-Eleven attached to the station, the business model won't work. The market may be different by you, but the palyers in this biz usually own several properties in order to turn profit. Good luck!

You might be better off doing some due diligence research and then investing in stock of energy companies. I've heard that with all the regulations that gas stations can be tough.

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I do understand that the regulations might be very tough. Although, i plan on getting threw on that. I wasn't thinking about opening up your everyday gas station. I was thinking about opening a shell or bp or what ever the case might be. I mean i was going to throw in a car wash on the side of the gas station ( not a machine car wash), i can build a little stand to rent out to people, so that they can wash there cars in the shade. Down here in south florida, there are a lot of tuner shops. I happen to know a couple of the owners of these tuner shops. I was also thinking about, building maybe a 2 garage with a little office on the side, which i could also rent out to someone trying to open up a shop in a good area for a good budget. I mean i wouldn't allow a dyno but i would allow them to do all there necessary mechanic work. As far as in the gas station it self, i was thinking about renting a portion of the gas station to maybe a subway or pizza hut or what ever. Therefore, i can have a couple of incomes coming in just by having the gas station open, not including selling the fuel.

You are getting to a big footprint now and complicated zoning issues with all of the uses on one parcel. You really need to study this hard and have a strong business plan that concentrates on what WILL work and not try to cover all bases with a multi-pronged attack on every niche. Just my .02

no i understand... I plan on doing this step at a time... My goal is to get this gas station and get approved for all the regulations. Once i do that, i am going to try and get all the permits needed for my little ideas.

I have a friend in Chicago that owns two very busy gas stations (had to buy the second one to pretty much break even). Their only real income is from the MiniMart. As stated above you only get pennies on the gallon and need to have the little store. The EPA is a killer when in comes to regulations and testing (just like the IRS, no one is really prepared if they want to screw you). Your plan is too wide spread in my opinion. With all of that "stuff" you have to think about insurance costs as well. Just remember just because the place is packed does not mean that there is a million a day in business. Again this is straight from the horses mouth. I suggest more research.

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