Gas Station Business 101 Podcast - How to Start, Run and Grow a Successful Gas Station Business

Remember the store I helped some investors buy in 2015 that was losing money? I shared two updates so far and now here is the 3rd one about how that store is doing now. This is a long awaited episode, but here it is. Enjoy! Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 61. This is the show where we discuss everything under the sun about the gas station and convenience store business, how to buy these businesses, how to operate them and how to grow them to be a million dollar success. Now on to the show..... On Episode 23, I brought you a real life store sales data and analysis, where I was helping a group of buyers decide if they should buy a location or not. If you recall, in that episode I published the real sales figures of the store and some projected ones as well. Based on their sales data I created some P&L's of my own and it showed for the month of October the seller had lost about $2500. But despite the fact that the store was losing money, I did go ahead and recommended that they buy the store based on few factors which I discussed in that episode 23 as well. If you recall, in that episode (episode 23) I discussed few issues, and few opportunities of the store and we covered 9 points: If you have time, please go back and listen to Episode 23 and 29 this way you will know the whole story. In episode 29 I shared some P&L for March 2016, in that episode, I did compare P&L’s from October 2015 which the sellers provided us to what the new owners did in March 2016, and if you recall there was a drastic difference between those two. The new owners increased the business and made it a very profitable one. But to get to that increase, the new owners implemented these nine strategies that I proposed. Strategies we implemented: As you can see it was not one single strategy that made the business profitable but a combination of many factors. It was not an easy task, but the credit goes to the management team of the store who were able to follow directions and implement everything we suggested for the store. Now let’s take a look what and how the store has done since March 2016 until December 2016, instead of showing you month by month P&L, I can tell you that the new owners have seen a gradual increase in business and enjoyed a positive growth each month. Let’s now take a look at the P&L from this last December. But remind you in most areas, November through February are usually the slowest winter months. Business usually slows down quite a bit compare to the summer months. So I figured if we can see something positive even in December then we can be assured that the business will make more sales and show more profit during the summer months. Here is the P&L for the same month of December 2016 (If the Excel Spreadsheet is not viewable, please visit my blog at GasStationBusiness101.com to view them) Let’s look at the Profit and Loss history of this store. If you remember in October 2015 right before the new owners took over the store lost $2574.51, then the new owners took over in December, and by March the store became profitable which I shared in episode 29, the P&L then showed a profit of $5193.33. Now fast forward to December 2016, which is a slower month for most gas station business, and with less fuel sales, the store generated $6,875.46. It is important to share that in this past one year, their best month was August 2016, and for that month the net profit was $9,612.90., But I wanted to give you a full year’s snapshot so I brought December and not August in this calculation. What have they done differently? Well, nothing other than keeping up with the proper inventory, making sure the pricing is right and superior customer service. That’s the secret sauce of success in this line of business. If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to...

In this 2nd part of our last Q&A episode, I answer remaining 5 questions all related to buying gas stations and how to understand the numbers and if the stores are really making money or losing money. I also answer questions about how to grow your business with financing and how to take on a new partnership. I think you may find this episode helpful if you are in the market to buy a business. Here I analyze some sales numbers and see which ones are making money and which ones are not. Stay tuned. Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 60. This is the show where we discuss everything under the sun about gas station and convenience store business, how to buy these businesses, how to operate them and how to grow them to be a million dollar success. Question #4 Hope this email finds you and your family well. I personally want to thank you for writing a book about Gas Station Business. You have explained very well process of how to buy and what to keep in mind before purchasing store. I am in Gas Station with C-Store business since The year 2005. I have been thru many challenges similar to yours which you have explained in your book. I am currently looking for something to understand how to get finance to expand like big national corporations? Can you explore few points of financial strategies in order to expand in gas station business? Your help will be highly appreciated. Question #5 Dear Shabbir, I will be running a gas station from April 1st. Let me give you the picture; the store owner still has 3.4 million volume of gas volume under contract. He splits his profit, expenses, credit card fees, and maintenance fees with a small oil company. If I take his contract, I have to split the fuel profit 50/50, but I get 3 cents cheaper than other gas store. If I don't take his contract, I have to pay 3 cents more than his contract price. Which deal will generate more profit for me? Being a 1st-time business runner, I would appreciate your suggestions. Question #6 Hi Shabbir Thanks for the great article, it helps a lot. One question, though: when a seller say his store sales are 37k, does that figure normally including lotto and scratch off sales? I am asking because one of the stores I looked at treated lotto, scratch off tickets and prepaid phone cards separate, so inside sales were more than what they were saying. Thanks and keep it up Question #7 Thanks for the great info. I had limited fund like around 100k, and most money making gas stations as I saw on websites are expensive. Do you think it is a good idea to go in partnership with a stranger? I have posted on cl for partnership and got responses, but I am curious about it. Answer: Check out episode #21 where I spoke in details about how to create effective partnerships. Question #8 Andres sent me this question, he is a long time listener and contributor of this show, he asked Hi Shabbir I hope you are fine. Do you have a good template to control cigarettes in your stores? I would imagine your employee has to count the cigarette boxes when he starts the shift and also at shift end to reconcile the daily sales, right? If not, how do you do it? Tune in and listen to this episode for all the answers. If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Don't forget to sign up for my very important newsletter; you can simply sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe In the meantime, if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, feel free to do so, and if you like this show, I would love to see a review from you on iTunes or where ever you download this episode from. Here is a link to my podcast page on iTunes, if you follow this link you can give me a review right on that page. Trust me it will make my day and won't cost you anything other than...

In this episode, I answer three questions all related to buying gas stations and how to understand the numbers and if the stores are really making money or losing money. I think you may find this episode helpful if you are in the market to buy a business. Here I analyze some sales numbers and see which ones are making money and which ones are not. Stay tuned. Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 59. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. First my apology once again for not coming up with an episode sooner, I was busy with a few projects and had to put the blog and the podcast on the backburner for just a bit, but I am back, and hopefully I will be posting new episodes sooner rather than later. I still haven’t forgotten about the episode I promised you where I would share the new P&L of the subject store I helped some investors buy about 14 months ago. I have some new updates on that store and recorded that episode halfway through already, which I will share soon I promise. Now as for this episode, I had to do this one first because I have had way too many emails lately where many of the blog readers and podcast listeners have been asking me various due diligence questions, and it is hard to answer them via email. So I have decided to pick just 6 out of them since they are mostly all similar in nature, and I thought by sharing them with rest of you, it will benefit everyone. For various privacy reasons, I have decided not to mention any names of the people that sent me these emails here. Let’s dive right on… Question #1 I need your advice about the valuation for the store based on the following information. Inside Sale# $55000/month (27% profit margin) $55,000 x 27% = $14,850 Outside Sale# 25000 Gallon/month (10 cents per gallon) 25,000 gallon x 10cents =$2,500 Lottery commission# 4000/month, ATM# $200/month Total Gross Profit $21,550 Owner absentee Capability to open deli with grill. Store located in small town and mostly neighborhood business. Expense: Rent# 5000 "NNN." Utility# 1300 Credit# 1000 Payroll# 2400 (Two full-time employees) Other# 500 ______________________ Total Expenses: $10,200 Net profit: $21,550 – $10,200 = $11,350 Asking price is $225,000 What would be the price we should go for? Question#2 Shabbir, here are few questions. Please note that I do not have prior experience, so how can I convince them that I am serious and are there any training provided by gas companies? Now at the end of the year when I will file income tax, which option will give me bigger return? What is the best way to approach companies which own multiple stations around me? Question#3 Good Morning Shabbir, Glad, I ran into your website. I found a gas station business for sale for $85K. We did our due diligence to look into the traffic, etc. Mostly the sales are from Cigarettes and Beer. The other items are pretty much a stand still. In addition, this station the gas is unbranded. They are selling like 700 Gallons per day, inside the store with the majority of sales been Cigar and Beer. The sales is about 40K revenue and 35% profit, and expense is about 9.5K. Profit is about $2,750 is what I am estimating. Is the goodwill they are asking outrages? Currently, the owner is not opening the store properly and wants to sell it. If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Don't forget to sign up for my very important newsletter; you can simply sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe In the meantime, if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, feel free to do so, and if you like this show, I would love to see a review...

I am sure you have seen a gas station or two that are closed up in your area and wonder why did someone close it or if you should buy it, or would it do great business if you start it up? Listen and find out as I answer 6 burning questions from our listeners in this episode. Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 58. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. First my apology for coming up with an episode sooner, I was little under the weather at first then got busy with a few projects and had to put the blog and the podcast on the backburner for just a bit. Well, we all have to make money to survive right? I was doing just that too. But I am back, and hopefully, I won’t take much breaks anymore. Even though I told you in the last episode that this next one will be about the update and P&L of the story I helped some investors buy back in December 2015, but I am still analyzing and sorting out those P&L numbers, so hopefully it will be in the next episode. As I said I have been busy so I didn’t even get to answer some of yours email yet, and if I haven’t, my apology. But I picked out 6 questions out of 30 or so email I looked at in last two days and decided to answer them on this episode this way everyone gets to benefit from the answers. In this 3rd Q&A episode, I answer 6 questions My question is what should my resale value be after 3 years of operation? How much can I sell and/or lease the business for which will not include the R/E How much can I sell the business with R/E 5. First of all, thanks for your podcast and for all the resources you share with us. It's great to learn from someone with all your experience. Keep it up! The public restroom at my gas station is located outside, meaning people have to ask for the key at the counter to use it. Normally we give the key to customers (people who actually buy) and people we know (customers from the past who might not be buying anything on that day) but sometimes people get very mad when we don't give the keys out if they are not buying anything (people who only stop at the station to use the restroom). That being said, the cashier is many times "forced" to give out the keys to non-customers in order to avoid headaches. The problem is that people don't care about the restroom. They pee on the floor, misuse the toilet paper, soap and paper towels and write graffiti on the walls. Some others use it to consume drugs and have other illegal activities. The main problem is that once every week the toilet gets clogged, sometimes so badly that I've had to actually replace the toilet 3-4 times a year as it is impossible to unclog it. I've been trying to find the best solution for this. It is mandatory to have public restroom according to Florida laws so I can't close it. I am also forced to offer toilet paper, soap, and paper towels even if people misuse them and it represents a high cost to my business. Some people have suggested installing a coin lock, so I charge something small to use the restroom, but I'm afraid this would make me lose real customers. While I know the coin lock does not fully solve the problem, at least it would generate me some cash to keep the restroom neat. Have you had this problem in your stations? What is the best way to tackle this, so the restroom does not become a drain of my profit? Thanks for any hints you might share to help me out. (Andres sorry for the delayed response to your question) 6. I have noticed in 3 of my dispensers the regular unleaded runs very slow but other two grades are fine, it has been happening on and off, what should I do? If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Don't forget...

I get asked this question often, and I have tried to answer them before as well, but let’s answer it once again in very much details so we can clear up any and all the confusion, let’s discuss how you can figure out how to calculate your fuel profit precisely and accurately. Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 57. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. Before we start, one important announcement, my new email server is working beautifully now, so if you are on my email newsletter list, I am sure you already noticed you are receiving my seven very important how to find and buy a gas station email series. If any of you are not receiving these emails, please sign up again, and that should solve the issue, you can simply go to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe or go to my blog at http://gasstationbusiness101.com and sign on the landing page. You will also receive my free eBook 9 Passive income idea book for signing up. Okay now on to the show… First take a look at the attached daily fuel price notification that we all receive from our jobber/suppliers. This is the price we pay to buy our fuel. Remember it will vary city to city, state to state and country to country. What I pay for a gallon of regular in Alabama may not be the same as someone buying the same brand fuel in NY City. But a couple of things to consider here, if you look at this fuel prices you will notice there is a difference in price between the regular, Mid-grade and premium right? Well, typically, your mid-grade price should be around 15 cents higher than your regular price, the same way your premium price should be around 50 cents higher than your regular price. So, you need to price your fuel accordingly. Let me show you how. Price Regular Mid-Grade Premium Cost $1.89 $2.04 $2.39 Retail $1.99 $2.39 $2.89 (Listen to the show for details on how we price our fuel) Now let’s look at the Excel image of the fuel margin calculation, it will be easier for you to understand this episode if you can see the excel sheet. You can also download this and use it for your business as well. (Listen to show for full discussion on this) To download the Fuel Profit Calculator please click below (In Microsoft Excel Format) http://www.gasstationbusiness101.com/Fuel-Profit-Calculator If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Don't forget to sign up for my very important newsletter; you can simply sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe In the meantime, if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, feel free to do so, and if you like this show, I would love to see a review from you on iTunes or where ever you download this episode from. Here is a link to my podcast page on iTunes, if you follow this link you can give me a review right on that page. Trust me it will make my day and won't cost you anything other than maybe 30 seconds of your time. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gas-station-business-101-podcast/ Thank you once again for joining me in this episode; I will see you in the next one. Cheers!

I want to tell you about five proven marketing strategies that have worked for me for last 18 years. But remind you they will sound silly at first, but I want you to hear them out in their entirety before you knock any of them out. After you hear me out then maybe you can go try them in your business and see how your business rises to the top. Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am your host Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 56. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. Here are five silly sounding strategies you can take and become a unique retailer in your area. Trust me they work; I have tried and tested them for last 18 years. Just trust me on this okay? Before you knock these proven ideas, hear me out, let me explain each and you will see and hopefully agree with me. So here we go... (Listen to the episode for all the details) If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Don't forget to sign up for my very important newsletter; you can simply sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe For all our international listeners, if you are interested in learning about the investment category visas and how to get one of those by investing in a gas station business, do check out my new book USA Investment Visa to Green Card, How to Qualify, Apply and Obtain EB-5, E-2 and L-1 Visa. You can find this book on most online retailers like Amazon, Apple iTunes store, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and most other online booksellers. In the meantime, if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, feel free to do so, and if you like this show, I would love to see a review from you on iTunes or where ever you download this episode from. Here is a link to my podcast page on iTunes, if you follow this link you can give me a review right on that page. Trust me it will make my day and won't cost you anything other than maybe 30 seconds of your time. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gas-station-business-101-podcast/ Thank you once again for joining me in this episode; I will see you in the next one. Cheers!

How can you tell if an employee or customers are stealing from you? How do you know someone is not stealing your beer, cigarettes or other merchandise? Is your business losing money every day and you just don't know about it? Let's see how a great inventory management system can help you stop the leaks, stay tuned.. Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am your host Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 55. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. The topic today is How to have an effective Inventory management system. Sounds complicated? It is really not, I will not be talking about any complicated computer program or any such things. Instead, I will take a very simple decade old method that business owners used for years. If you recall from my previous episode where I talked about various types of theft, then you may recall there are two different ways theft takes place in our business External is where your vendors and customers are walking away with your money or products without paying, and internal theft is where your employees are walking away with your money and merchandise. Since stealing cash is typically harder than stealing merchandise, and we did address the cash issue in the previous episode, let's discuss how we can have a great yet very simple inventory management system to check and see if you are losing your merchandise due to either kind of theft. First, I need to tell you how big chain stores and companies do their inventory management then I will talk about how we do it. There are two ways you can do inventory management Big corporations like Circle K, 7-11, Wawa food and many other regional, local and national chains practice Item level inventory while small business owners like us typically practice department level inventory. Item level inventory tracking is more cost and labor intensive; this system requires more labor and dedicated managers on duty on every shift. Which is usually not cost-effective for most of us small business owners. First, let's recall your typical merchandise categories and see which ones are more prone to theft. Typical product categories: Let's discuss each category and see which ones are an easy target and which ones are not, also which ones are easy to track and which ones are not. (Listen to the episode for the whole story) If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Don't forget to sign up for my very important newsletter; you can simply sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe In the meantime, if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, feel free to do so, and if you like this show, I would love to see a review from you on iTunes or where ever you download this episode from. Here is a link to my podcast page on iTunes, if you follow this link you can give me a review right on that page. Trust me it will make my day and won't cost you anything other than maybe 30 seconds of your time. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/gas-station-business-101-podcast/ Thank you once again for joining me in this episode; I will see you in the next one. Cheers!

Once you finish the construction of your new gas station how do you get it open up for business? How to pass the inspections, how to merchandise, how to get everything ready, let's discuss and let's see if we can finally open your new store for business. Stay Tuned... Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am your host Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 54. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. Today's episode is the third and final part of How to build a gas station from start to finish. In this episode we will discuss: The final inspections (Building, fire, electrical and most importantly the health dept. inspection and what they look for) If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Don't forget to sign up for my very important newsletter; you can simply sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe Good news is the email transition process has started, so in about a week or so we will be able to start sending out emails that many of you have been waiting for. In the meantime, if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, feel free to do so, and if you like this show, I would love to see a review from you on iTunes or where ever you download this episode from. Thank you once again for joining me in this episode; I will see you in the next one.

Would you like to know how to build a gas station from ground up? Do you wonder what all it takes to build one of those? Let's discuss what it takes to build a gas station from start to finish. Stay tuned... Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am your host Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 53. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. Today's episode is the second part of How to build a gas station from start to finish. The idea for this topic came from a long time listener name Shahnawaz so this episode too is dedicated to him. A big thanks goes to Shahnawaz for bringing such a wonderful and important topic to the forefront. If you recall in the last episode we spoke about: Site Selection Basic Market research Market study done by oil companies) What size to build Sales Projection In today's episode we will cover: If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Don't forget to sign up for my very important newsletter; you can simply sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe Good news is the email transition process ahs started, so in about a week or so we will be able to start sending out emails that many of you have been waiting for. In the mean time if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, feel free to do so, and if you like this show, I would love to see a review from you on iTunes or where ever you download this episode from. Thank you once again for joining me in this episode; I will see you in the next one.

Would you like to know how to build a gas station from scratch? Do you wonder what all it takes to build one of those? Let's discuss what it takes to build a gas station from start to finish. Stay tuned... Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 51. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. Today's episode idea came from a long time listener name Shahnawaz so this episode is dedicated to him and thank you Shahnawaz for bringing such a wonderful and important topic to the forefront. He sent me a list of questions to answer, and these questions are: Since "how to build a Gas Station from start to finish" is a vast topic, I have decided to break it up in to two parts. In this first part we will cover: Site selection, basic market research, demographics research, deciding what size to build and sales projection . On the next episode we will cover the actual planning, brand selection, hiring the right contractor, How to save money in the building process, cost to build, pre opening and grand opening. Site Selection Basic Market research Market study done by oil companies) Here are the criteria for most major brand duel companies: Not every site is suitable for retail fuel sales, and major oil companies such as Chevron, Shell, and ExxonMobil have established minimum criteria that must be met before sites can carry their brands. These site selection criteria are established to help retail operators select economically viable sites. Brand identity and protecting their brand's public image are important to oil companies. The specific site selection criteria used by ExxonMobil are listed here to provide an example of how oil companies evaluate potential sites: * Exclusivity of trade area--A trade area's supply and demand profile is a key factor in site selection. * High traffic counts--There should be 18,000-20,000 vehicles passing by the convenience store each day. * +56,000 net usable square feet--The company will consider less square footage for stores in metropolitan markets. * Residential density--There should be 15,000 existing or planned residences within a 1.5-mile radius. * Excellent visibility--The site must be visible from one-third of a mile away. * Excellent accessibility--There should be convenient ingress and egress from both primary and secondary streets. * Signalized corner intersections--Ideally, stores should be located at four-corner sites. What size to build Sales Projection If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Lastly, If you are about to buy a gas station for the first time, make sure to read my book "Gas Station Business Smart Start-up" How to measure profitability, how to come up with a valuation, how to calculate ROI, how to write a business plan and how to get financing for your new venture. You can find this book on most all retailers including Amazon, Apple iTunes, Kobo, Smashwords and Barnes and Noble. Don't forget to sign up for my very important newsletter; you can simply sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe Don't forget to tune in to listen the 2nd part of this episode which will be out in about a week or so. In the mean time if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, feel free to do so, and if you like this show, I would love to see a review from you on iTunes or where ever you download this episode from. Thank you once again for joining me in this episode; I will see you in the next one. Cheers!

In business we all have to do some degree of negotiation, when buying a home, a business or just with your suppliers or vendors, but we don't get to win each time, but we should win if we know and practice this 13 negotiating skills, stay tuned and let's find out what and how they work Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 51. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. This episode is also important because it is based on my new book " How to Master 13 Negotiating Skills and Win in Business" that I published a few months ago, I know I didn't mention it here before, but this is one book I have been working on for a while now and was finally able to finish it. It was a soft launch, as I wanted to get some feedback from people and see what they think of this book. Now that I got some great feedback, I am happy to announce that it is out and available on every digital and print platforms out there. But this episode is not about my book but about the 13 skills that will help you win in business and in life Let's dive right in and get started.. The first and most important lesson in negotiation is never to show desperation, no matter what you are buying or selling, the smell of desperation can spread really fast and ruin any chance at winning a deal. There is some basic legwork that you need to do before each deal or negotiation, even long before you go to the table and sit down. You need to collect some data by research and discovery ahead of time so you can take the time to analyze it and then determine what your exact game plan is going to be. I know this may sound confusing, but after I discuss all 13 skills sets I will walk you through a real-life example of a negotiation that I had done recently and how these skills sets worked in that negotiation process. I will share the details and the outcome of the negotiation so you can visualize how these 13 skills work in real life business situations. Skill 1 - People Skill Know how your behavior affects others. Understand various negotiating styles and which one you're dealing with. Change your style of meet the needs of the listener. Skill 2 - Listening Skill Using steps to learn the interest of others. Three levels of listening to gain information. How to perceive yourself while listening to win at negotiating. Skill 3 - Develop a Full Plan Before You Go To Negotiate What a detailed plan should include. What alternatives should you be prepared for? Additional planning to be prepared. Skill 4 - Knowing What You Want Know what you want to gain. Know what you are willing to concede. Know timeline and expectations. Skill 5 - Knowing What They Want Know their interests. Know their walk-away alternative. Know their authority. Know their arguments, questions and tactics. Skill 6 - Knowing When to Walk Away Know your acceptable range. Know their acceptable range. Know your deal breakers. Skill 7 - Know How Much to Compromise What is a compromise? What can't be compromised? The perception of compromise. Skill 8 - Knowing the Barrier Identifying the seven barriers Language differences Culture differences Physical barriers Personal problems Preconceived notions Reputation Exhaustion Overcoming barriers Skill 9 - Knowing How to Control Your Emotion How do you want to feel and why What to do beforehand to put yourself in an emotional state. What can through off your emotional balance in a negotiation. How to regain emotional balance. How you want to feel when you're finished. Skill 10 - Using the Time (Clock) to Your Advantage How deadlines affect negotiations How you can use deadlines to your advantage. Skill 11 - Finding Mutual Gain Five principles of mutual gain. How to negotiate for mutual gain. Skill 12 - Make Them...

In this episode, I answer four very unique questions about the underground storage fuel tanks. Some of these are very unique problems; these problems can happen to any gas station operators. I highly recommend you listen to this episode and take notes... Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 50. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. This episode is a direct response to 4 of our podcast listeners, they all have questions regarding UST or underground storage tanks, I could have included these questions in our next Q&A episode, but I decided to keep this very important topic separated from all the rest. Back in Episode 40 and 41, I spoke at length about some of the risk factors that come with buying a gas station business, in those episodes, I covered some of the risks associated with UST. If you haven't listened to those episodes, I highly recommend that you do so, this way you will get the complete picture. But today I will take a different angle and talk both from a tenant's point of view and from an owner's point of view. The first question comes from Andres and he wrote: "I own the gas station business but not the property. The landlord (fuel distributor) is responsible for the underground activity and I maintain all above ground. In case there is a soil contamination, a tank leakage or a tank replacement need, the landlord will have to take care of that. However, I would face a business interruption. Is it normal to include in the lease with the landlord that, in case such things happen, I will not pay rent during the time period when I can't operate my business? Even more, would the landlord indemnify me? How far can I push it in the contract normally?" The second question came from Tina and she wrote: The land is owned. The business is owned. But the tanks are leased. So...who insures the leased tanks? What kind of insurance? If the tanks are not double lined...can the leased tanks be replaced through the company which is leasing them? What should be reviewed for UST through the TCEQ website? Who registers the tanks? How much does registration cost? The third one came from Michel, he wrote: "Hello, I enjoy your podcast very much. Great information and useful tips. Could you do a podcast on how you manage inventory effectively? Also, what do you think is the best way to handle, record and comply with UST regulations and compliance. Thank you." Last one came from Rakesh, and he wrote: "I am getting complaints from customers time to time that my gas has water/dirt in it, I called a local repair company and they told me to call a tank company to wash my tanks!!! I am confused, please help" Here is an image of how the UST sits underground and various layers of earth look. If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Lastly, If you are about to buy a gas station for the first time, make sure to read my book "Gas Station Business Smart Start-up" How to measure profitability, how to come up with a valuation, how to calculate ROI, how to write a business plan and how to get financing for your new venture. You can find this book on most all retailers including Amazon, Apple iTunes, Kobo, Smashwords and Barnes and Noble. If you are interested in learning more about small business and gas station marketing strategies, you should check out my book Sales Genie, Retail Marketing 101. In this book, I show you 5 Proven Ways to Increase Retail Sales and boost profit by 25% in just 60 days. You can find this book in every online bookstore from Amazon to Apple and every other one in between. I would love to see a review from you on iTunes; this will mean a lot to me so please take a...

Did you just buy a gas station business and now finding out that even with high sales volume the business is not generating enough profit for you? Are you struggling to just meet your basic business expenses? Or are you about to buy a business that will put you in the red? Some of our listeners have just found themselves in that exact situation, so stay tuned and let's analyze all that in this episode. Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 49. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. This episode is a direct response to 3 of our podcast listeners and the issues they are facing about their new business venture. I won't mention them by name since I didn't ask for permission ahead of time, so I will just refer to them as person A, B, and C. Here is the situation, Person A recently sent me an email where he mentioned he recently bought a business but now a month and a half later he is still putting money into the bank just to meet his expenses. Person B sent me an email with a lot of sales data from a store he is thinking about buying and asked for my advice, and lastly person C just sent me an email which said he followed my advice that I gave on various podcast and bought a business but now he sees two of the categories in his new business has less profit margin than what I suggested. The two categories are automotive and cigarettes, where he said my suggestion was 15-17% on cigarettes but he found out his new business has only 5% margin, in the automotive category my suggestion was around 50%, but he sees around 18% margin. But what is alarming is that his cigarette sales are around 37% of his total merchandise sales while the automotive is only 3% Do any of you remember listening to episode #1 and #33, in these two episodes, I shared my own life story and how I failed miserably in my first gas station business venture, and how I was taken for a fool by the sellers. I am not suggesting that this is what is happening to this three gentleman, but as buyers, we do have to be aware and be very careful, so this does not happen to any of us, right? Let's start with Person A first, in his case, he is not sure why he is not making any money, in last two weeks we have shared a lot of sales and purchase data with me along with some of the selling prices on some of the products. Here are his numbers and since I am not sharing his name, I will share the numbers this way his privacy won't be compromised. Last month these were his sales: Fuel: 67,457.23 gallons Merchandise $71239.05 Out of the 67K gallons, he sold 61900 gallons of regular fuel and 5100 gallons of premium and plus grade fuel. The breakdown on merchandise were (I rounded the sales figure off) Cigarette $27,000 X 15% = $4050 Beer $16000 X 23% = $3680 Soda $12000 X 33% = $3960 Grocery $9000 X 35% = $3150 Tobacco $3000 X 23% = $690 Novelty $2500 X 40% = $1000 Auto $1000 X 50% = $500 Deli $500 X 35% = $175 __________________________________ Sales $71,000 Estimated Gross Profit $17,205. The gross profit margin here is $24% For the same month, he purchased $62,500 merchandise, which seems high for 71K total sales. If inventory level remained the same both at the beginning of the month and at the end of the month, then he should have ideally only replaced what he sold at cost right? If so then his purchase should have been$71,000 - $17,205 = $53,795, but he bought $62,500 which was $8705 more. But this is not always bad; this can also mean he may have $9,000 worth of extra inventory sitting on his shelves, but to find that out it is a good idea to have your inventory counted on the 1st day of every month. In his case, he hasn't but he told me he doesn't think he has that much extra inventory. Instead, he thinks he has less than what he started...

If you are not yet a gas station business owner, then you may want to listen to this episode, as I discuss what is like to be a owner or an operator of a gas station business, what are the daily challenges, and issues we face every day, and if you are already in this business, stay tuned and see if the challenges and issues I talk about matches what you face every day. Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 48. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. The idea for this very episode came from David, he sent me an email asking me to explain the day to day life of a gas station owner, so David here it is.. As a business owner we all get up every morning and hurry over to our business to start our day. Every business comes with its own sets of challenges, similarly gas station business comes with its own as well. today I want to discuss some of these daily issues and challenges and how we can manage them properly so they don't become a big burden on your shoulder. Here are the 8 issues we will discuss today If you are like me, the very first thing I do when I walk in to a store, I pick the daily close out report to see how much business we did the day before. Then I sit down and go through each shift report to see if there were any issues there. Next I will count money from all shifts and do my sales data entry in my bookkeeping system and balance the cash and the credit. Next, I check on any vendor and merchandising issues. Every store has some degree of theft, I try to analyze and see if there is any other safety measures that can be taken to minimize it. I then check on any issues related to maintenance either outdoor or indoor. Next comes the employee and scheduling issues, again every store has some degree of employee and or scheduling issues that needs to be resolved. Lastly I check on various compliance issues that we may have either from the local health department or from the brand inspectors. Once again a big thanks goes to David as he is the one who came up with this topic, so this episode is fully dedicated to him. If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Lastly, If you are about to buy a gas station for the first time, make sure to read my book "Gas Station Business Smart Start-up" How to measure profitability, how to come up with a valuation, how to calculate ROI, how to write a business plan and how to get financing for your new venture. You can find this book on most all retailers including Amazon, Apple iTunes, Kobo, Smashwords and Barnes and Noble. For all our foreign listeners, if you are interested in learning about investment category visas and how to get one of those by investing in a gas station business, do check out my new book USA Investment Visa to Green Card, How to Qualify, Apply and Obtain EB-5, E-2 and L-1 Visa. You can find this book exclusively on Amazon for now. Don't forget to sign up for my very important newsletter, you can simply sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe Thank you once again for joining me in this episode, I will see you in the next one. Cheers!

Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 47. This is the show where we discuss how to start, run and grow a gas station business successfully and give you an inside look at many real life case studies so you can follow and be successful in this business. Today's' episode is a rather interesting one, and this idea came from Moe. Moe sent me an email about a month ago asking about this very topic as he found an opportunity to take over a store for very little money. I did answer his questions via email but I figured this is a topic that can benefit most of my other listeners. So here it is. As I said, we all know someone who flips home to make a living, and often they make good money doing so. But there is a growing market where people buy and sell gas stations for a big profit. But if you want to do this business there are few very key points you need to measure first and make sure you fulfill all those requirements. It can be a risky business, it can even be a money pit, so you have to be extra careful to do this business. But if you do it right the payout can be huge. 6 Key factors to consider and analyze before deciding to get into this business Once you have fulfilled the requirements and bought your first store to flip, your real work begins. Find out the causes of failure of the business. 5 Main Reasons Businesses Fail Once you know what cause this business to fail, you need to take a comprehensive approach to fixing not only that single issue but all the other factors as well. It will be like opening a new store where you touch and improve on every part of the process. 6 Key Improvement areas Once you successfully implemented each of the above improvement measures, it's time to wait and see the results. On an average, it takes anywhere from 4-6 months for a dying store to come back to life and show growth. In my opinion, a flip from start to finish should take no less than four months and no more than 12 months. Once you see the sales are at a point where the store became profitable, it is time to put it on the market. But don't try to hide the fact as to why you bought this business when buyers ask you why you are selling the business. Once again a big thanks goes to Moe as he is the one who came up with this topic, so this episode is fully dedicated to him. If you have any question, feel free to send me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can post it on my Facebook group page by going to shabbirhossain.net Lastly, If you are about to buy a gas station for the first time, make sure to read my book "Gas Station Business Smart Start-up" How to measure profitability, how to come up with a valuation, how to calculate ROI, how to write a business plan and how to get financing for your new venture. You can find this book on most all retailers including Amazon, Apple iTunes, Kobo, Smashwords and Barnes and Noble. Don't forget to sign up for my very important newsletter, you can simply sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe Thank you once again for joining me in this episode, I will see you in the next one. Take care

Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, This is only podcast show of its kind where I discuss every aspect of gas station business from how to find and buy the right location, how to market your business, how to do bookkeeping, how to minimize theft to what type of insurance do you need to have for your business. So it is a one stop shopping for any of you that are in this line of business. You may ask how does he know it all? Well I don't and that is why I go and ask the experts sometimes, and I also want your participation in this, because I know some of you out there may be great at something that I am not, so together we can share our knowledge and empower the rest of our community for a better future for our business. Sounds good? Let's get started In Episode 17(click HERE to listen to that episode or to see the show notes) I touched on this very topic briefly, but I wanted to make an episode out of it as I have had many email requesting more information on this very topic. There are two ways to setup a deli in your store. Fist, you can have limited deli food. This applies to stores that have limited space and small; the other way is opening up a full deli where you offer a full menu from Breakfast to dinner. But before you open up a deli in your store, there is a certain degree of due diligence you need to do to find out if deli will generate enough business to make it viable for your store. Deli is not for everyone; deli tends to thrive in rural and blue collar neighborhoods, So some research needs to be done to find out if your store should benefit from having a deli business. Looking at the demographics of the immediate area of your store can tell you if it will be a good idea or not. Look at data like: After doing the research, if you are still not sure, smart a small limited menu deli. Limited menu deli is essentially what you see when you walk into a 7-11 or Circle K type corporate stores, where they carry cold sandwiches, hot dogs, and other pre-packaged ready to eat meals. Once you decide you will want to start a deli business these are the next steps to carry out: The benefits of having a deli inside your store: One small announcement, I recently published a book call How to Master 13 Negotiating Skills and Win in Business, it is a soft launch, but any of you are interested in seeing it, just click on the book title and you will get to see it. This book is one of the three that I have been working for a long while; I was finally able to finish it recently. As of now, I am putting the finishing touches on a book that I co-authored, and that book is all about the various types of investment visas for people that are interested in investing in the USA. If you would like for me cover a topic I haven't yet, feel free to email me or post it on the Facebook group, and I will try my best to have an episode on that topic, but remember if I pick your topic I will dedicate that episode to your name. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter; you can sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe or you can directly go to my site and at the bottom of every page there is a subscribe button. Cheers!

Welcome to Gas station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, This is only podcast show of its kind where I discuss every aspect of gas station business from how to find and buy the right location, how to market your business, how to do bookkeeping, how to minimize theft to what type of insurance do you need to have for your business. So it is a one stop shopping for any of you that are in this line of business. You may ask how does he know it all? Well I don't and that is why I go and ask the experts sometimes, and I also want your participation in this, because I know some of you out there may be great at something that I am not, so together we can share our knowledge and empower the rest of our community for a better future for our business. Sounds good? Let's get started The idea of our topic today came from a gentleman name Yash, he sent me a few emails so far and in one of them he asked me to cover FSA and commercial lease, so again this episode is fully dedicated to Yash, Yash my friend, thank you for bringing such an important topic to the forefront of our discuss. On that note, if any of you have any other topics that you think everyone can benefit from, please let me know and I will cover that one a future episode. Before I start, let me just let every one of you know that I am attaching a sample fuel supply agreement in the resource section of my blog at http://gasstationbusiness101.com/resources for you to download and read, and see what it really looks like. This way once you listen to this episode you can go back and look at the agreement for a much better understanding. 23 Key Points of a Fuel Supply Agreement to Pay Attention to Click HERE to download the Sample Fuel Supply Agreement If you would like for me cover a topic I haven't yet, feel free to email me or post it on Facebook group and I will try my best to have an episode on that topic, but remember if I pick your topic I will dedicate that episode to your name. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter, you can sign up for it by going to http://gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe or you can directly go to my site and at the bottom of every page there is a subscribe button. Cheers!

Welcome to gas station business 101 podcast. This is episode number 44. This is the only show of its kind where we focus on all aspects of gas station business and we discuss, analyze and try to improve the process by trying to see what works and what doesn't. Today's topic a very important one and it is all about commercial lease and how to read and understand this complex document. What to look for as potential problem in these leases. The idea for this episode came from two people, Yash and Jasmine, so thanks to both of you for bringing up such a good topic out front for everyone else. Most commercial leases are complex by nature as it is a legal document but it gets even more complex when it is prepared for a gas station because there are two parts of a gas station business, a convenience store part and then there is the fuel part. To understand this document fully I am attaching a full commercial lease as a sample which you should be able to download from my blog site, by going to the show notes for this episode or you can go under the resource tab and find it there. In this episode I will not read every word of a lease because that would not only take a long time to do but it will be not worth your time as you can just download that copy and read it yourself. Instead what I will do is explain few important points of a commercial lease and some potential issues that maybe be hidden in a commercial lease. Below is a link you can download and view a Commercial Lease for a Gas Station Commercial Gas Station lease So let's get started.. These are the followings 18 important parts of a commercial lease agreement Couple of quick announcements before we finish here.. I am still seeing people registering for my forum on my site, as I mentioned before, that forum is not working properly, so please join my Facebook group instead and there you can post questions, get quick answer to any question you may have. To join my Facebook group simply go to shabbirhossain.net and it will take you straight to my group. If you would like for me cover a topic I haven't yet, feel free to email me or post it on Facebook group and I will try my best to have an episode on that topic, but remember if I pick your topic I will dedicate that episode to your name. Lastly I want to send a big thanks to Nitin Gangwani, for his kind words as he gave me a 5 star review on iTunes, Nitin if you are listening I sure do appreciate your kind words and that sure makes my day. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter, you can sign up for it by going to gasstationbusiness101.com/subscribe or you can directly go to my site and at the bottom of every page there is a subscribe button. Next week I will have another very important episode where we will discuss everything about FSA or Fuel Supply Agreement and that episode will be dedicated to a long time listener name Yash as he is the one who gave me that topic. Cheers!

First, let's define what is passive income. Passive income a process where you earn money without being involved in the day to day business operation of the business. If any of you remember the free book, I send to everyone on my mailing list all about passive income than you know there any many ways to make money passively. It is really where you work hard at first to set something up and then sit back and watch that hard work make money for you over time. For example, say you wrote a book two years ago, at the time of wiring the book you worked really hard, you did a lot of research, and then took months to finish the book. But once you are done writing and you publish it, you can just sit back and relax and watch that book earn money for you month after month and year after year. But the same approach will not work when it comes to a gas station business. It will require a very different approach. It's not a book, not an affiliate income or commission that you will earn every month. It is a retail business with lots of moving parts. One way I have seen people try this approach that can work as passive income model is if you hire good employees and managers to run the business while you just monitor their work and step in only when you need to. But to me that is not a good idea, it's not a good approach either, I have seen too many owners lose their business by depending on hired help. Instead, my suggestion is to find a good partner or two who are willing to do the hard work for a salary and portion of the net profit, and you just stay on as a silent partner or investor and enjoy the income. 4 key points to having a successful partnership In order for you to take this approach, first and foremost you have to know and trust that individual fully, and then you have to install or put some safety measures in place, so there are checks and balances. It's like a having a lock on a door, as we all know locks are there to keep honest people honest. But in your case you are not installing a lock but a system of tracking sales vs. purchase and expenses. The best approach is what I have done many times is by having a good bookkeeping system in place. I explain to my partners that they have to prepare and furnish a monthly report to all partners which should include a sales report, a P&L and or an income statement and a copy of the bank statement. This way every partner or investors know what took place the month before at the store. Each will have the detailed knowledge of the sales volume, expenses purchases and how much net profit the store has made. In my opinion, you will still have to visit the store, meet your working partner at least once a week, just look around see what is going on and if they need your help on any issues. So even though it is more passive but you still be to around and supervise without intervening in the daily operation of the business. I have taken this approach for many years, and so far it has worked well for me, and I am sure if you pick the right person it will work for you also. So yes as you can see gas station business can work as a passive income model if you take the right approach to it. If you haven't signed up for my newsletter where I send many valuable information through every couple of weeks, by all means, do so. This way you will be notified of any and all changes that affect our business. Just hit Subscribe below this page and you will be on the list. If you need to ask me any question, you can do so by either sending me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can join my Facebook group by going to http://shabbirhossain.net. It's a domain redirect; it will take you to my Facebook group page. The app I spoke about in this episode is call Road Spoke, and here is a link to their YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6dZ3fpPad0&feature=youtu.be Cheers!

Welcome to Gas Station business 101 podcast, I am Shabbir Hossain, and this is episode 42. For those of you who are joining me for the very first time, this is a show where we discuss from how to start, run and grow a gas station/convenience store business successfully and make money. In each and every episode we discuss a new topic that is targeted towards improving your business one step at a time. Topics could vary from marketing ideas, to fuel management to bookkeeping and many more just like these topics, if you want me to cover a topic in a future episode, feel free to email me, and I will try my best to cover it in a future episode. Now here is the fun part, if you send me a topic that is valuable enough for everyone, and I make an episode out of it, that episode will be dedicated to you. Sounds good? Let's get started. Q1. How to use Facebook for gas station marketing? (Reference Episode#10) Q2. Can leasing a gas station get me an E2 Visa? ( Reference Episode#31) For answer also read my blog post by clicking HERE Q3. I have ATM, should I start selling money orders too? Q4. How to do I find out about previous contamination of a gas station that I am buying? Q5. How do I know if the tanks of a Gas station I am buying has fiberglass tanks and not metal tanks like you said some stations have? Q6. What kind of insurance do I need to get that can protect me from various loss and theft? Q7. At closing the seller wants me to pay a percentage of the retail inventory, what should I do? Q8. Should I change from selling diesel to selling E85 as E85 is much cheaper, and I am in a very competitive neighborhood The announcement about the '" Ask Me Forum". Since I have had issues after issues with the forum sign up and posting, I have deiced to take the discussion to my Facebook Group. So any of you that have signed up for my forum, my sincere apology, instead please sign up to my newsletter this way I will have you on my mailing list to notify any and all important updates. Also to ask me any question, please join my Facebook group and to do so just type http://shabbirhossain.net on your browser and it will take you to my Facebook Group. If you haven't signed up for my newsletter where I send many valuable information through every couple of weeks, by all means, do so. This way you will be notified of any and all changes that affect our business. Just hit Subscribe below this page and you will be on the list. If you need to ask me any question, you can do so by either sending me an email at shabbir@gasstationbusiness101.com, or you can join my Facebook group by going to http:.//shabbirhossain.net. It's a domain redirect; it will take you to my Facebook group page. Cheers!