Oil and Gas Business opportunity: Ways to acquire Petrol filling stations

Rent:  There are some filling stations you can rent and use for the time being. Ask people in the field or search online to locate available ones. Please, investigate before you invest in such filling station to know whether you can flourish there.

Buy: Some petroleum filling stations are up for sale. Do your findings to get the right person to buy from. You can search online to locate the existing ones in your areas.

Build it: Acquire a property and build your Petrol Station.

 You need to secure a space in a location that is prone to vehicular traffic, and then you can consider starting a filling station business.

Considerations for building Your Petrol Filling Station

Do research and feasibility studies: study about the business structure and the location you intend to situate your business.  It will help your decision making and form part of your documentation. It will also help you to known the right skills and strategies to use for your business growth.

Land Requirement

At least, two plots measurement of land is the minimum property requirement to build your petrol filling station. This will be able to afford enough space for vehicles to queue and make exit turns.

 Proper documentation of the property is necessary, carryout the proper land survey and structural design. You can consult professionals for further advice.

 Storage Tank

Underground Storage Tanks are usually used. They have varying capacities such as 30,000 litres, 35,000 litres, 40,000 litres, 45,000 litres, 60,000 litres, etc.

It is better to go for high volume tank, like  45,000 litres and  60,000 litres  as this would accommodate storing of extra fuel.

For instance, If you go for 30,000 litres underground tank and you want to be lifting full tanker of 30,000 litres, then you will have to always wait until the last drop of fuel in that tank is sold before going for another purchase.

Construction

The petrol filling station construction engineer will be able in the best position to handle that. The designs, measurements and construction specifications would be handled by the engineer.

A Bungalow: The size is your choice depending on the space available and what other services you want to be rendering to customers. The services could be Car wheel balancing, Restaurant, Supermarket and Car Wash.

Canopy over you Pumps: Canopy is the shade constructed over your petrol station pumps; it protects the pumps and the petrol attendants against the sun and the rain.

Perimeter fence: This is one of the regulatory requirements. You are expected to fence the three sides of your petrol filling station, leaving only the entrance open for entry and exit. If your filling station is located on a T-Junction, only two sides would be required to be fenced, the rest two would be opened for easy entry and exit from both joining roads.

Hardcore flooring: The floor supposes to be hardcore concrete to resist the pressure from these vehicles because vehicles of different capacities would be making entry.

Standby Generator: There is a need for alternative source of power supply like generator because electricity supply might not be there for you always. You would need a generator of about 25Kva or above to support your business. Standby generator is one of the requirements for approval.

3-6 Pumps: These are pumps that dispense the fuel; you will need between 3 and 6 depending on your size and level of approval you get. Electronic type is preferable.

 License and Approval:  Note that you will be required to apply and obtain permits and business license from the appropriate authority before you can successfully build a filling station in any area of your choice.

Approval to Construct.

·         Mostly, your location has to be along the major road so that passing vehicles could easily have access to the Petrol Filling Station.

·         Closeness to traffic, areas like Motor Park, roundabout, or market is a plus so that vehicles engaging in commercial activities in those areas could easily branch and buy from you.

·         It would be of advantage when your site is located around U-Turn or round about if it is located along double lanes express-way.

Staffing Your Petrol Filling Station

Security: The security officers are of great importance in this business. They protect lives and properties at work. When cashless policy becomes fully operational and adopted by customers, risk involved would be reduced to some extent.

Armed robbers attack late at night and during the weekends when they hope or inform there is liquid cash at hand.  Get strategies to tackle them in all fronts, enlist the services of private security operatives, pay them well and encourage good interactions within your workers.

Attendants:   You would need 2 petrol attendants for each pump; they would be shifting between them, one person at a time.

Cashier: Account can be employed to take care of the cash and to keep records of the cash transactions. Functional and efficient software would be useful to keep accurate record of you cash movements.

Supervisor:  He coordinates the activities in the filling station and reports back to the manager. A good supervisor is expected to be reliable and capable.

Manager: He is the senior officer in charge of the overall function of the petrol filling station; it is good be experienced type in the running petrol filling station business. All staff members report to him while he in turn is accountable to the owner.