Written By : Manal Zafar
If you are going to start a convenience store business , and you want to buy a convenience store. We will discuss several tips and tricks that you must acquire before buying the convenience store. While stepping into owning the convenience store several points should be in your mind.
A convenience store is known for opening at late hours. And usually, convenience stores are integrated along with gas stations for heavy revenue. Convenience Stores must have a variety of customers so that in late hour people pass by the area must be facilitated properly in terms of products requirement.
The sales of convenience stores are $532.9 billion in the USA, in the year 2021 and convenience -store has gained many competencies. If you wanted to pursue the convenience-store you must have some research and some significant steps to follow, the steps include are;
Research before buying a convenience-store -For getting insight to operate successfully
If you are exactly at the start of buying a convenience-store setup ,Then you must do proper research that how much you have a budget to start with, selecting the state in which you want to open the convenience-store and also the gross revenue.
Creating a business plan- to pinpoint the Essentials
Generating business plans gives you the proper idea about finance clearing your blind spots and providing the best guideline for your budget. you are aware of the different parameters like start-up cost and running price.
Choosing the Best possible location
To run this business successfully, you must select the location wisely. Definitely convenience store is successful in a crowded place. This is because location brings you the traffic of customers. Also selecting the wrong location can lead to threats in the future. The location must describe the foot traffic too.
Obtaining EIN, license, and permits
The next step is to get the EIN (Employer identification number), It is also necessary that you must get all the licenses before setting up the c-stores. Getting permits like alcohol and tobacco licenses as well.
Managing finance for Business setup
The next step is to manage the finance, What is the asking price and what is the maximum revenue that is generated? Also, you need to make a deep analysis of the sales ratio and Gross income. You must be considerate about both sales and inventory.
Integration of up to date could system
Digitalization is the demand of this era, Fix the cloud-based system in the c-store to manage all sales and transactions. The sales could system is beneficial in the sense that you can get all the data and reports remotely, As you can access it and it helps you to track all the operations, this would make you better aware of business profit and loss. And you will not fall prey to fraud.
Versatile and in demand Product Catalogue
Well deciding product catalogue depends on the demand of the product, you should decide according to Regular customers and if there is any competitor nearby then you must be having flexible catalogue. That in turn decides your sales and revenue.
The catalogue should include:
- Newspaper and stationery
- Cakes and fresh fruits
- Tobacco and Alcohol
- Tea, coffee and tissue paper
What factors Increase the growth of convenience stores?
Convenience stores made so many amendments to provide services for their customers. It made changes for customer convenience. Convenience store is getting more profitable because they are fulfilling the demands of customers.
In recent years Amazon has also decided to enter the convenience store business because of its high demand .The majority of the convenience-stores are owned by individuals because their growth prospect is high and If you have clicked with the idea of the convenience store, then you must familiar with its merits and demerits.
Merits and demerits of buying a business
Let’s talk about some of the merits and demerits of choosing the convenience store as a business;
Merits:
- Easy to start with the convenience store as it’s easy to manage as a comparison to restaurants and other businesses.
- You are your boss, and also maintain operations by cloud sales system.
- Usually, convenience store does not face fluctuations highly because of high economic busts
De-merits:
- Usually, the start-up cost is not high as but it can range from 100,000$. But it can be less than 100,000$, and the start-up expense is spent on inventory, types of equipment and rent etc
- Staff issues like High turnover of staff, this is because of many issues like illegal activities, robbery, and inefficient staff.
Is a convenience store a money-making business?
Convenience stores have mark ups more than grocery stores, Like 10- 20 % more, it is because of the high demand for products. It’s difficult to estimate what a typical take-home pay for store owners would be because there are so many variables that could affect how much money you could make as a convenience store owner. The average annual income of a convenience shop owner is $66,000 according to Indeed.com.