How To Get The Money To Get Into The Gas Business

Good Evening Gas Nation!

This week's YouTube video is going to walk you through the very first steps you need to take to get into the gas station business and how to come up with the financing you need to get into the business. Go watch the video and then come back to read my commentary in this newsletter.

We're going to hit pause on talking about the GBG 911 Challenge just this week because the past week has been a doozy! So many great experiences and so many firsts! Don't worry, we'll be back with the Challenge next week.

This week was filled with some amazing experiences. If you saw my Twitter (sorry, X), you know that I:
- went to Texas, flying first class for the first time!
- recorded a podcast with the amazing Chris Powers (The Fort Podcast with Fortworth Chris, the same guy who had Barry Sternlicht, one of the biggest real estate investors in the country, on just a few weeks ago.)
- ate my first breakfast tacos!
- and drove in a Tesla for the first time.

I really do all of this to connect with people and last week was an amazing example of that!

Alright - let's get into starting you all in the gas station business and how to get the money to finance all of it.

The number one question I'm asked is "How do I start? How do I get into the gas station business?" and most often I get asked by folks who don't have all the money in the world and want to get into operating and controlling gas stations on a budget.

Today's newsletter, and this week's video, is all about that.

Alright, so there are a number ways to get into running a gas station if your bank account isn't overflowing with lucre.

The first way is to do a lease for the property. Some owners who aren't doing too well, or have other things going on, are willing to lease you the gas station. I talk about this in the video starting here. Now there are some things you have to be careful with if you do it this way, and I talk about that in detail in the video, but it is a great way to get started.

The second way is owner-financing. Now this is better than a lease and this is how I started! Remember to make sure that whatever terms you negotiate, the purchase price still needs to make sense for you. Check this out here in the video.

The third way to get into the business is by becoming what we call an operating partner. You find someone with equity in some stores and you work at the store on some sort of arrangement, where you'll often split 25%, 40% or even 50% of the profit. I talk about that starting here.

The forth way is by leveraging an SBA loan. The Small Business Administration has numerous programs to help people just like you start or buy a business and there are specialized lenders in your local community who have a lot of experience financing gas stations. Find one and see if it's a fit for you. I talk about that in the video here.

And the final, but most expensive way of financing the purchase of a store is to partner with an established individual, such as a doctor, lawyer or business owner, and have them provide you with the capital you need to get into the business. They'll never work in your store and the relationships might start rubbing you the wrong way several years into the partnership, but this is a bonafide way of getting into the business and it's worked out for many. I talk about that here in this week’s video.

Now some of these options are a way of starting to build equity in the business’ real estate and others are not so make sure you pick the best method that works for you. In the future, I'll talk more about the real estate part of the gas station business. Today we're focusing on actually getting into running a gas station, even if you don't own the property just yet.

That's all for this week folks. I hope you enjoy this week's segement and make sure you check out the whole Gas Biz Guy series on YouTube and make sure to watch today's video if you're interested in starting in our wonderful business.

Till next week Gas Nation.

GBG