You probably have long noticed for yourself the fact that every year the number of cars on roads and highways is growing exponentially.
On the one hand, this is a serious minus for large and small cities. After all, the environment is significantly deteriorating.
But if you look at this development of events from the side of business, then everything is working out perfectly. The best option for the owner of sufficient capital is to open a gas station. A business plan, calculation of average costs, return on business and other details will be described below.
Where to start
The first item will not be the purchase of equipment, fuel or the recruitment of staff. Not sure how to open a gas station? Start by renting or acquiring a land plot. A very important point is to successfully settle down. The number of customers, as well as the profit of your business, directly depends on this.
A site with a gas station should be located in close proximity to busy sections of roads, highways and highways, on which a large number of cars pass daily. Such land, of course, will be quite expensive. But then the profitability of gas stations in this case is significantly increasing.
Land lease or acquisition
Here, everything directly depends on the available amount of the initial investment. The purchase of a land plot for the subsequent construction of a gas station takes a long time. In addition, you will immediately have to pay out a substantial amount of money, which will lay an impressive burden on initial investments.
There is an option to take a loan. But in this case, be sure to consider the additional costs in the form of interest, which must be regularly paid to the bank. In this case, the risk of falling into a serious debt hole increases greatly. Indeed, at first, a business may not give enough profit (and, most likely, it will be so).
The main advantage of renting a plot is that you do not need to pay a large amount of money immediately. But at the same time, in the end, you will give much more for using the land than in the case of a purchase. But all the main expenses will be reflected in the business gradually, which is not so painful during the payback period of the project.
Paperwork
It is always worth considering that the question of how to open a gas station is complicated not only from a financial point of view. You are waiting for a real check paperwork. It will be about issuing a mass of permits and obtaining a license for the storage of fuels and lubricants and fuel.
Without timely receipt of all necessary documents, you simply will not be able to start working. Otherwise, such commercial activities will be declared illegal. Of course, paperwork costs money.
You can not spend your own free time on paperwork, but entrust it to a specialized company, having previously concluded a contract with its employees for the provision of relevant services. However, in this case there will be additional costs. Indeed, such companies do not do charity work and do not provide services for free.
You will have to include an additional line in the points of the business plan of the gas station, which will certainly hit your pocket. Meanwhile, the independent execution of all the necessary papers through the Ministry of Fuel and Energy will take a little more time.But you can save a nice amount.
We hire staff
It is unlikely that you will find enough free time to independently serve all customers at your gas station. Remember that the profit of gas stations directly depends on the level and quality of service. Therefore, you need to hire a competent, polite and certainly efficient staff. You need to refuel cars as quickly as possible so that there is no queue of dissatisfied drivers. As soon as the level of service begins to decline, the so-called word of mouth works 
Radio delivering negative reviews at an amazing rate.
At the same time, the mentality of the people is such that it is much more difficult to earn a positive reputation. People share enthusiastic reviews extremely sparingly, leaving all the most interesting and useful information exclusively for themselves.
To answer the question of how to open a gas station that will bring a steady income, it is necessary to develop a competent strategy for working with staff. Remember that the main thing in your business is the right motivation. Offer your employees a small salary and a percentage of the work done. This will be an excellent motivation for fast customer service.
Another option is to set up a fuel sales plan. You can also take into account some specific brand (for example, the most expensive). An employee will receive a cash bonus for fulfilling the plan. The main thing is not to set impossible tasks for the staff.
We buy equipment
What for the most part depends on the characteristics of gas stations at customers? An important role in this matter is played by high-quality and high-tech equipment. You will need several refueling machines, as well as a computer to control the process (the staff manages the equipment).
In order for your gas station, whose business plan will help establish the necessary price framework for the purchased equipment, to work without downtime and queues, it is necessary to put an average of 8 columns with gasoline.
What about franchising?
There are two options for starting a business with a gas station. The first involves starting the business from scratch. In this case, we are talking about the autonomous existence of the station. The second option involves the conclusion of a franchise agreement. And just such a development of events, as practice shows, is considered more profitable. What is hidden behind the term "franchising"?
In fact, this is just the conclusion of an agreement to build a gas station under a certain brand. The thing is that sometimes a popular and vibrant brand is much more important than the highest quality service and products. It is already known to people, so you don’t even have to spend money on advertising. The cost of concluding such 
The contract can vary greatly depending on the brand.
The average price is about $ 1,000. The peculiarities of doing business in this regard are that you have to very strictly comply with the requirements of corporate identity. Therefore, it will not be enough to ask how to build a gas station.
You still have to think about the level at which the company’s flags should be placed, the distance by how many centimeters should be left between symbolic bins, etc. However, experts say that franchising is the easiest way to attract the attention of the greatest number in the shortest possible time. consumers.
Choose a partner
In order to profitably conclude a franchising agreement and start making profit from the very first days, it is necessary, first of all, to decide on the trademark with which commercial relations will be drawn up. This should be done on the basis of the principles of self-profit. If you do not know how to open a gas station, while reducing all kinds of costs to a minimum, then first try to find a fuel supplier whose base is located near the gas station.
So you will reduce transportation costs.Be sure to agree on the possibility of receiving the goods from another base, if delivery from the selected place for any reason will be impossible. Remember that gas should always be at your gas station. Otherwise, the reputation will suffer greatly.
How much does it cost to build a turnkey gas station
Suppose you decide on a land issue. It's time to calculate the cost of building a gas station building. And in this case, everything will depend on the project. In addition, it is necessary to decide whether you will only build the building of a gas station, or else build a car wash, cafe, shop and other additional joys for your customers nearby.
The more objects, the more significant will be financial investments. So, how much does it cost to build a turnkey gas station? Consider a specific example. Let's start from the ground. If you acquire it in the property, then its price will be equal to approximately 200 thousand US dollars. However, the number may vary greatly depending on the location chosen. The more attractive it is, the more expensive the site will be. Also consider the size of the land. The construction of a gas station along with the acquisition of all necessary equipment will cost approximately 0.8-1 million US dollars.
We consider the profitability of refueling
So, we answered the question of how much it costs to build a gas station. As you can see, the costs are considerable. Now you need to calculate how profitable this business is. Let's say the initial financial investment was $ 1.2 million. Now you need to consider the costs for each month. On average, a small car gas station sells about 2,000 liters of gasoline in 1 day.
The cost of 1 liter is within 1 US dollar. The price depends on the foreign exchange rate. Consequently, $ 60,000 is also added to the cost per month for fuel. This figure may turn out to be slightly less if you receive a discount from your supplier. It is also necessary to add the salary of gas station employees, as well as the purchase of goods for the store, if it is provided for in your business plan.
The higher the final figure, the higher the price of gasoline should be, as well as everything that is sold at the gas station. In this case, you must remember about competitors. Too expensive fuel simply will not be bought. On average, this type of business pays off in 5 years and is generally considered very profitable provided that a competent approach to entrepreneurial activity is taken.
Increase profits
So that commerce in the sale of automotive fuel brought a sufficient level of income, many entrepreneurs go for a little trick. As a rule, they also open a cafe, a shop or a car wash at a gas station. Sometimes this particular type of business becomes the main one in terms of profit. And refueling cars only attracts more customers.
Important little things
Do not forget about the protection of the object. How to open your gas station with minimal risk? Provide her with a safe existence. Recently, there have been frequent cases of assault and robbery in order to seize daily revenue at gas stations. Therefore, it is very important to equip the object with security cameras, as well as an alarm button.
In the event of a force majeure situation, the gas station employee should be able to invisibly invoke security. A separate item is fire safety. Do not forget about the availability of all special means for extinguishing a fire. In addition, it is necessary to strictly ensure that no one smokes on the territory of the gas station. This applies to both staff and customers.
Possible problems
In any business, specific obstacles arise from time to time. In the case of its own gas station, this may be theft of products by personnel. To prevent such an incident, it is necessary to install security cameras, as well as introduce a system of mandatory fines.
In addition, wages should eliminate the need for theft. Always keep in mind that the supplier may bring low quality fuel.This is also a significant business flaw, as it can ruin the reputation of a gas station. It is also necessary to consider the margin on gasoline. Most often, it does not exceed 5%.
How to register your business
So, you calculated everything and came to the conclusion that this type of entrepreneurial activity will bear fruit. Next, you need to register as a legal entity or as an individual entrepreneur, providing all the necessary documents for this.
Open a bank account in the bank. It is through him that you will have to pay suppliers for products. Revenues are also given to the bank. Very carefully choose a credit institution in which you will store all the funds of your business.
If you wish, you can open several current accounts at once. But remember that for each of them you will have to pay a commission at the bank's rates. It also complicates the system of settlements with counterparties. But the advantage is also very significant. The fact is that if a bank is declared bankrupt, legal entities with opened accounts in it may not particularly hope for compensation of funds. As a rule, all money is lost. And if there are several current accounts, there is a chance to save at least part of the finances.
