Over the years, a gas station has been seen as a reliable investment, most especially when the price of gasoline was relatively stable and by world standards was seen as low in the United States. Not so long ago there seemed to be little pressure to cut back on oil sales or to cut down on our energy use and carbon emissions due to global warming. As time has gone by we can see that conspicuous energy consumption is no longer permissible and the run-up in gas prices in recent years has turned our focus toward hybrid or electric vehicles. Having said that, our society will continue to rely on gas powered vehicles for our transportation in the future and the typical gas station will develop into a destination for a variety of other products and services.

Perhaps more so than any other business, location is very important when it comes to the selection of a gas station for sale. You might think that the value of the location is obvious, but if you talk to local authorities before you go too far, you will be able to see if events such as road construction would factor into your equation, or whether certain environmental issues need to be addressed including storage tank upgrades, or if there have been past issues with litigation. In certain circumstances, these could decimate your income!

It’s certainly true to say that gasoline sales by themselves may not represent a significant margin potential, so to value a gas station when you’re looking to buy a business, you may often rely on ancillary sales and other products or services. If the location you are looking at is not so advanced in these respects, consider the potential. For example, what about installing a convenience store or finding another organization to handle it for you on a licensing basis. Could you place a first-class car wash operation on property and benefit from revenues here?

To buy gas station business assets successfully, note that operations that are known to be full service (gas, car wash and c-store) will generally command up to three times whatever the owner benefit figure is. Owner benefits can be made up of salary, profits, any perks, while adjusted for interest, depreciation and any other capital expenditure that you might have to make. A smaller or simpler establishment may be of interest to you, due to the additional potential and in this case you might only expect to pay one or maybe two times the owner benefit.

Pore over your business financials, your supplier contracts and make sure that you have adequate discussions with any landlord involved. Many deals trip up at the landlord/tenant stage, as the landlord often takes it upon him or herself to try and ensure that the incoming new owner is up to the job of making the business a success!

During the process of observation, you must be very aware as you observe what is going on at the gas station. You should be especially wary if the owner appears to be working “hands on” for long periods of time. If many of his family members are seen putting in a lot of effort, they may be working below market rates, being paid under the table or maybe not at all; what if you had to recruit paid staff to do their jobs? Make sure that you observe the busier time periods, counting traffic and people, so you can gauge the potential accurately and know how to create a good offer.

Richard Parker is the President and founder of the Diomo Corporation - The Business Buyer Resource Center. His inspiring materials, seminars and consulting have assisted thousands of business buyers with achieving their life long dream to buy a business.

Manufacturing and then importing from Asia / China can seem daunting, especially if you are a comparatively small business and have never thought about Global Sourcing.

The fact is, yes it is tricky, in fact, just being allowed to go into South China (now globally seen as the manufacturing capital of the world) is itself a formidable prospect.

However, that shouldn’t put you off, as long as you have the right importing company on your side. The benefits of having your product(s) produced in Asia to very high standards make the whole process worth-while and viable. People have been doing it for years and it really can save lots of time, effort and money.

It is of the utmost importance when trading with the Asian business world, that you understand their way of doing things, what motivates them and their culture.

The best way of doing this is to hire a company that specialises in this sort of thing, that knows the Asian business etiquette and what not to do. It is also important that the company you choose is well known and trusted in the Asian business community.

Of course the main benefit of low cost country sourcing is the price. Money in the Asian economy is on a much smaller scale, i.e. the pound () is worth much more there than it is here. It is for this reason that they can offer unbeatable prices, while maintaining the welfare of their workers by providing them with a comfortable wage.

You can manufacture products in far larger numbers than would be possible here. Again this does largely come down to cost, but another advantage of importing from Asia is that you can vastly expand your supplier resources to gain an invaluable advantage over your competition.

Finding a company that can take this task on for you is extremely important. Good companies in this field have invaluable knowledge, experience and relationships with manufacturers and suppliers all of which are essential in a highly competitive environment.