Fuel trading is a fairly profitable and promising business that brings up to 20% marginal income with a minimum of time spent. Gasoline and diesel fuel will always be bought, despite crises and stagnation in the market, so gas stations are quite an interesting means of earning money.
First, some background information. Investments in a gas station are quite large - they are almost impossible for a beginning businessman without experience and start-up capital.
Opening a gas station can be a good business or a way to save money
The payback period for one gas station opened in a good location is approximately three years. On the one hand, it’s not bad, on the other hand, there are more interesting and profitable ways to earn money. Most often, gas stations are viewed as a way to save money, rather than increase it. But if you take this business seriously, then from one gas station you can create an entire network in just 5-7 years. Gas stations are a risk-free type of business. They are guaranteed to buy gasoline from you, but for stable income you need a good place.
There are two types of filling stations:
Typically, container refills are used as temporary ones: they require special safety conditions. The owners of such gas stations undergo 2-3 times more examinations; inspectors, firefighters and other officials regularly visit them. This makes selling fuel unprofitable. Therefore, if you decide to seriously engage in the fuel sales business, then equip a full-fledged stationary gas station with underground tanks.
For normal operation, you will need to open an LLC and register with the tax service on the general system as a VAT payer. This is a mandatory condition, since 98 out of 100 fuel suppliers work only with those gas stations that pay VAT. You can also open an individual entrepreneur, but then you will lose a large part of corporate clients and various companies, since they prefer to work with LLCs rather than private individuals. This will also open your door to the tender market - signed contracts will bring you serious ongoing profits.
It is necessary to trade several types of fuel to increase the number of customers
The most difficult thing is to find a suitable site. It should be in a place where there is heavy traffic. This could be a major highway, an interchange, a highway, or a large gas station. Ideally, the site should be located in a populated area or at the exit from it.
If you do not have experience in selling fuel, then conduct an independent examination that will determine the success of your choice. You need to find out whether it is possible to place a road service facility - a gas station - on a given site.
Note:The chosen location should have convenient access. You should not choose a site 30-50 meters from the highway - the equipment for the exit will eat up quite a lot of money.
Once you have decided on the form of activity, you must:
Note:all documents must be prepared in strict accordance with legal requirements. To save time and nerves, it is better to order them from specialized companies.
Leasing will help you save up to 80% of the investment amount, but it will pay off much longer
It is noteworthy that in different regions of Russia the requirements for opening a gas station are different, so you should discuss all issues with specialists in advance.
All basic requirements for refueling can be divided into:
It should be understood that gas stations are high-risk facilities. Increased demands are placed on them, and any violations can lead to tragedy. Therefore, be sure to study the requirements of “Rules for the technical operation of gas stations” RD 153-39.2-080-01 and “Fire safety requirements for gas stations” NBP 111-98.
All purchased equipment must meet relevant standards and have quality certificates. A lot of companies are engaged in sales of equipment for gas stations. You can buy it or lease it.
You must trade at least four types of fuel: AI-92, AI-95, AI-98 and diesel fuel. It is possible to expand the range to Euro grades.
You will need:
The dispenser includes not only the dispenser itself, but also all the necessary cables, shut-off valves, control panels, etc. The only thing you will need is a computer with software for sales control.
The software controls the entire process from filling fuel tanks to selling it to drivers. This allows you to avoid controversial situations and monitor your employees for honesty.
At first, you can do without tankers
Considering the issue, how much does it cost to open a gas station should focus on the problem of personnel. You will need:
You can also hire two gas station attendants, which will increase the attractiveness of the gas station in the eyes of customers, but at first you can do without them.
In order to obtain all the necessary documents for opening, you will need 4-6 months (depending on the region and the chosen site). Construction work usually takes about 6 months. In total, about 12 million rubles must be invested in a full-fledged refueling station for 4 types of fuel, with a modern building and pumps. The amount is rather big, but with proper work and advertising, it will pay off in 3 years. In just 10-12 months, having found regular customers, you will be able to start building a second gas station using the income received from the first. Classmates
Any type of fuel is, first of all, a type of product that is in great demand, even though it becomes more and more expensive every year. Due to the popularity of any type of fuel, opening your own gas station will be just an excellent means of income for you.
But, as in every type of business, the fuel business has its own pitfalls and subtleties that must be studied. In order to study these features of opening your own gas station, you need to draw up a business plan that will help you avoid trouble. Also, a business plan will also help you organize your enterprise step by step.
Typically the solution open a gas station may arise both for an ordinary person and for a businessman - but the first thing that needs to be done before opening such a business is to conduct a market analysis and select an area of your locality that is not yet occupied by this business.
In this section, you need to describe what kind of gas station you want to open (the standard version is a gas station for 8 cars).
Also, you need to indicate the organizational and legal form of doing business (as a rule, you will need to register as an individual entrepreneur, but if you plan to work with corporate customers, then you should register as an “LLC”). If you register as an individual entrepreneur, this will give you several advantages, including low taxation, but the disadvantage of this type of activity is that the provision of services is possible only to private individuals. If you also want to serve legal entities, then, as stated above, you need to register as a legal entity (the same as “LLC”).
The degree of success of such a business is assessed as high, since today the demand for gas stations among consumers is very high, even despite their huge number in a relatively small area and high fuel prices.
This section of the business plan should describe the business you want to open. For example, you can give the following description: it is assumed opening of a gas station, which is designed for 8 parking spaces and which offers the consumer several of the most basic types of fuel.
At this stage of designing your enterprise, you need to describe the services that your gas station will provide to consumers. As a rule, any gas station provides services for refueling cars with various types of fuel, the most common of which are:
1. Gasoline grade AI-98;
2. Gasoline grade AI-95;
3. Gasoline grade AI-92;
4. Gasoline grade AI-76;
5. Diesel fuel;
6. Gas (a new, but already common type of fuel).
Also, it is worth considering that your gas station will also provide free refueling services. In addition, on the territory of a gas station, you can install a store where you can sell consumer goods or open an auto goods store (you can sell both small goods for a car and full-fledged spare parts for an engine). It would also be advisable to open a car wash at the gas station, we have one.
At this stage of the business plan, you need to monitor the gas station market in your locality, and establish your enterprise in an area where the concentration of gas stations is small.
In order to open your own gas station you will need a set of documentation:
1. License of the Ministry of Fuel and Energy for the storage of oil and gas, as well as their processed products;
2. Permission from local authorities to use the land for a gas station;
3. Land lease agreement issued by local authorities.
It is worth noting that the site on which your gas station will be located must be 30 meters away from the residential area.
Once you have received all the permits required for opening your own gas station, the stage of drawing up a production plan begins. First of all, you need to find a contractor company that will take on the responsibility for building your gas station. Today, finding such a company is not a problem, since there are a lot of companies involved in construction. During the construction of a gas station, you should pay attention to such components as:
1. Capacity for draining and storing various types of fuel;
2. Production premises;
3. Sales store;
4. Canopy over fuel pumps.
As a rule, it only takes about a month or a month and a half to build a gas station.
After constructing the gas station building itself, you can start purchasing equipment:
1. Gas station control system;
2. Fuel pumps;
3. Equipment for the store: display cases, sales shelves, cash registers; if there is supposed to be a bar, then you need to buy both a bar counter and kitchen equipment;
4. Fire safety stand (without this equipment you simply will not be allowed to open your own gas station).
After building a gas station and installing the appropriate equipment on it, you can proceed directly to putting such a station into operation. First of all, you must sign all the necessary agreements with fuel suppliers. This is necessary in order to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fuel to your gas station. As a rule, in large cities you will also have a choice of fuel supplier, since in such settlements there are several fairly large fuel supply companies.
By the way, if you want to make your gas station more famous, then a way of doing business such as franchising is suitable for you. This type of business will allow you to use the brand of a well-known fuel company for only 25-30 thousand rubles per year. As practice has already shown, opening a franchise is quite a profitable solution, since a well-known brand attracts consumers much more, which means that fuel sales increase significantly. But if you decide to open a franchise, then you should be prepared for the fact that the representative company will require you to comply with its corporate identity and attributes.
Once all stages have been completed, you can begin recruiting personnel. As a rule, for a gas station the following list of workers will be enough for you:
1. Salesperson-cashier (3 people will be enough to work in shifts);
2. Security guard (3 people, work in shifts, in the same shift as cashiers);
It is worth considering the fact that all employees of your gas station must have appropriate certificates obtained from the inspectorate for supervision in the field of circulation of petroleum products.
In this section of the business plan, you need to consider all the expenses and future income from such a business.
Expenses:
In the expense item, you need to indicate the costs of renting a site (approximately 100,000-1,500,000 rubles per year), construction of a gas station (2,000,000 rubles), equipment for a gas station (1,000,000 rubles), staff salaries (1,920,000 rubles), as well as all kinds of taxes, fees, approvals (300,000 rubles). In total, to open your own gas station you will need about 6 million rubles.
Income:
In the income item, you can indicate such income as the sale of fuel (20,000-30,000 rubles per day), the sale of various goods (6,000 rubles per day). In total, your own gas station will bring you about 800 thousand rubles per month.
After opening a gas station, you will get your invested money back in about 8 months.
Gas stations are divided into two types: container-type stations (KAZS), as well as at gas stations with underground and external locations of tanks intended for storing fuel.
Please note that gas filling stations are used mainly for temporary use. The operation of such stations as part of the retail sale of fuels and lubricants is considered inappropriate for certain objective reasons, since they are subject to very stringent safety requirements from regulatory authorities, as a result of which the costs of completing the required documentation and installing equipment increase significantly.
An important factor for further successful promotion of the chosen direction is the choice of taxation system. In this industry, almost all organizations use a common system that requires working with VAT (value added tax). Fuel suppliers are extremely reluctant to enter into contracts with enterprises that operate without VAT.
It is worth considering that large suppliers and corporate clients prefer to deal with LLC (limited liability company). This form of business activity allows for a more in-depth approach to solving certain legal and financial issues that arise in the process of mutual cooperation between enterprises.
Licensing of gas station activities canceled.
Particular attention should be paid to the selection of land for the construction of a gas station, since the choice of location is the main criterion for the success of future activities. The ideal condition for locating a gas station is the presence of:
A good indicator would be to locate a gas station in an area where there are no “promoted” gas stations. Of course, getting a plot that meets all the listed requirements is very rare, but at least one of these conditions must be present.
Advice: To determine its suitability for use as a road service facility (road service facility), an independent examination is required. The future fate of your endeavor largely depends on this.
The size of the plot is determined taking into account the gas station project you choose. But do not forget that for the smooth operation of a gas station, it is necessary to have convenient entrances. The marking of such entrances and the organization of traffic through gas stations is coordinated with the traffic police and road services.
Before choosing a project, an analysis of the location of the gas station should be carried out, based on the results of which the required quantity and equipment of the fuel dispenser (fuel dispenser) with which the gas station will be equipped is determined.
No less responsible is the preparation of documentation for the registration of a land plot. All requirements for the conditions for locating a gas station, design, construction and organization of the territory of a gas station must be unconditionally met. Considering that at the time of opening your first gas station you will be faced with a number of problems previously unknown to you, you should entrust the solution to these issues to specialists.
Today, there are many organizations that will comprehensively carry out all the work, starting with the preparation of design documentation for a land plot and ending with the commissioning of the facility with the provision of all necessary certificates, approvals, permits and approvals. There is no point in listing all the requirements and provisions with numbers and dates of documents, since they are accepted at the regional level and may differ significantly from each other.
Advice: You must clearly understand that failure to comply with even the most insignificant, in your opinion, points will subsequently lead to problems, the solution of which will require a significant amount of time, finances and your own nerves. A gas station is a high-risk facility.
There are many different models on the market from both domestic and foreign manufacturers. When choosing, you should be guided by the price and quality of the product offered.
Specialized stores have almost all the components for servicing and repairing a fuel dispenser. This usually does not cause problems during operation. I will list the minimum set of necessary equipment to equip a small gas station, taking into account the fact that two types of fuel will be supplied from each fuel dispenser.
Control panels, cables and shut-off valves are included in the fuel dispenser kit. The cost of all of the above depends on the model and manufacturer you choose.
All gas stations use reliable software that can fully automate the entire cycle of the fuel dispensing process, starting from emptying the fuel tanker into the tank and ending with the submission of a daily report with its preliminary sending to the accounting department. Thereby reducing to zero the possibility of unforeseen situations arising as a result of circumstances that are commonly called the “human factor”. Such equipment and software for it are not expensive and can be installed in a matter of hours.
The next issue that should be considered when opening a gas station is the selection of personnel. Everything is simple here:
You will also need an electrician, which can be issued under a contract. I am not considering workers directly involved in refueling cars on site, since at first you can do without them.
Conclusion
On average, it takes from 3 to 6 months to approve all the documentation required to open a gas station; construction of a gas station takes 6-12 months. The cost of opening a budget gas station is 12 - 15 ml. rubles The payback period of the project is 3-5 years.
The retail fuel market is very attractive, since in Russia there are many more customers per gas station than in Europe, its marginal income reaches 15-20%. This market is also interesting because, in addition to vertically integrated oil companies, there is also a place for independent participants. Here we will look at the question of how to open a gas station, what is needed for this, what documents, how much it costs to open and a business plan for it.
If you decide to engage in this type of very profitable business, then first you need to choose the type of gas station, and there are two of them: gas station - container type - and those where fuel storage tanks are located underground and on the surface.
In many cases, gas stations are used temporarily. The stringent safety requirements imposed on them significantly increase the costs of documentation and installation of equipment, so the retail sale of fuels and lubricants becomes unprofitable. Therefore, let’s consider the gas station of the second type.
Coordination of documentation takes on average from three months to six months, construction - six months to a year. Opening a budget gas station will cost approximately 12-15 million, and it will pay for itself in 3-5 years.
We present to you a ready-made example of a business plan for the construction of a gas station. You can download it for free.
Don't forget about franchising in this area. You can read useful information about this in the links provided at the bottom of the article.
Moreover, small and medium-sized entrepreneurs involved in the sale of automobile fuel very often buy a franchise from a large company. And in some regions, where the bulk of the market is occupied by one of these large companies, franchising becomes almost the only way of survival for independent gas stations.
So, you have decided to start your own business in this area, but you do not know how to open a gas station, what is needed for it and what documents. Let's look at this issue step by step.
There is currently no requirement to license gas station activities.
The choice of taxation system for the gas station to be opened plays a major role in achieving success in this field. Almost all organizations operating in this industry choose a common system that requires payment of VAT. Suppliers in most cases do not enter into contracts with gas station companies that operate without VAT. In addition, both suppliers and corporate clients primarily cooperate with LLC - with this form of business activity, legal and financial issues that arise in the process of cooperation are resolved at a deeper level.
One of the main criteria for success is the selection of land for the construction of a gas station. The most optimal areas are those located near a road junction, parking lot or major highway. The proximity of gas stations to populated areas is also important. It is advisable to locate gas stations in an area free of advertised gas stations. Finding a site that will meet all of the above requirements is quite difficult, but at least one of them must be met.
Do not forget that the gas station must have convenient entrances. Their marking, as well as the organization of traffic at the gas station itself, must be agreed with the road services and the traffic police.
Before choosing a project, it is necessary to analyze the place where the gas station will be located in order to determine the required number and equipment of fuel dispensers (FRC).
Preparation of documents for gas stations on registration of a land plot is a very responsible process. A prerequisite is the fulfillment of all requirements for the conditions for the location of the station, its design and subsequent construction and organization of the territory of the gas station. It is better to entrust the solution to these issues to specialists.
Currently, a large number of organizations offer their services for the preparation of project documentation, putting the facility into operation, providing the necessary paperwork and many other intermediate issues. Reception of all necessary documents for filling stations is carried out at the regional level, so the requirements for them may have significant differences.
The basic requirements for the construction of gas stations are divided into four groups:
Gas stations are classified as objects of increased danger, and therefore the slightest non-compliance with any item can lead to problems associated with financial, temporary and moral losses.
Required to study:
The market is replete with a large number of domestic and foreign models for gas stations, when choosing which it is necessary to adhere to the optimal ratio of price and quality.
Almost all components necessary for the repair and maintenance of the fuel dispenser can be found in specialized stores. The minimum set of filling station equipment, where two types of fuel will be supplied from each dispenser, includes:
The complete set of the fuel dispenser includes control panels, valves and cables, and the model and manufacturer affect the cost.
The process of dispensing fuel - from draining into the tank to submitting a daily report - is fully automated thanks to reliable software (SW). This reduces the likelihood of human error at the gas station to zero. Installation of such equipment takes several hours.
First of all, you need to hire the following employees:
Be sure to hire an electrician at the gas station that you decide to open, who can be issued under a contract. At first, you can do without tankers.