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Service Stations in Oz


noordhoeker

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We are coming over from Cape Town on a 163 Visa and are looking to buy a service station as have owned one here for 10 years.

Is there anyone out there that has bought one. Any advice or tips compared to South Africa.

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Well I don't know anything about owning a service station, but some of the obvious differences are that all fuel pumps are self service( and therefore don't need as many staff as you would in SA). That petrol prices fluctuate daily, and that credit cards are accepted as payment. A lot of Caltex service stations are tied into Woolworths and have the everyday rewards scheme, where if you buy x amount of groceries you get 4c off the litre price. Shell have the same deal with Coles.

Candice

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Well I don't know anything about owning a service station, but some of the obvious differences are that all fuel pumps are self service( and therefore don't need as many staff as you would in SA). That petrol prices fluctuate daily, and that credit cards are accepted as payment. A lot of Caltex service stations are tied into Woolworths and have the everyday rewards scheme, where if you buy x amount of groceries you get 4c off the litre price. Shell have the same deal with Coles.

Candice

Very interesting. Thanks for that helpful info. Are the standards of the petrol stations in general the same as RSA. They look like they are a bit behind the times.

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Very interesting. Thanks for that helpful info. Are the standards of the petrol stations in general the same as RSA. They look like they are a bit behind the times.

Hello

The person I am working for (ex Zimbabwean) owned a petrol station on the outskirts of perth for 2 hard years. Very difficult to compete with the big petrol stations as they purchase petrol for less than you can sell your petrol, and people are willing to travel a extra few k's to get their 4c/litre discount that the large supermarkets offer. If you email me @ noele4@optusnet.com.au with a list of your questions, I will happily give it to him and he will be more than happy to answer some of your questions, as he has travelled down this road already. Where are you looking at buying a station?

Cheers

Noele

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Very interesting. Thanks for that helpful info. Are the standards of the petrol stations in general the same as RSA. They look like they are a bit behind the times.

I would say similar to SA, some are a bit old and tatty with no or dingy convenience stores and some are newer and cleaner with good convenience stores. Obviously the Caltex and Shells that are tied into supermarkets tend to be better in terms of aestheitics but honestly I normally shop at the one who can give me to best petrol price (unless I am desperate) Noelle has a good point in terms of competing with the chain stores. I suppose unless you have a fantastic location (which ultimately you will pay BIG bucks for, or be way out in a country location where there is no competition), competition in Oz, will be extremely fierce.

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[Hi Noordhoeker

My husband and I have owned our Service Station in Gauteng for 15 years and thought we could do the same in Aus. We took a trip to NSW and Victoria to have a good look. The Stations are run very differently to ours with the owners doing all the work. The margins are also very tight and the bigger stations run the show. These are very pricy to come by and enormously regulated. The coupons certainly affect your bottom dollar! After chatting to numerous owners and managers of Stations, they all agreed that fuel was not the place to be. Sorry!!!!!

We have decided to focus on food and have been accepted into Perth on a State Sponsored 163. Maybe focus on retail if you have a shop. Certain areas also have fantastic stand alone car washes.

Good luck

Flo

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Its all been said above but let me add my 2 cents. Aus is ruled by the duopoly of Coles and Woolworths. Between the two of them they own everything from Kmart to Big W to Target etc etc. And the same applies to the petrol stations. Furthermore that 4 cents per litre doesnt sound a lot in rands but remember petrol costs $1.20 at the moment. One of the chains, I think Woolworths, has a further special whereby you get an extra 4 cents on top of the first 4 cents if you spend $4 in their petrol shop. So 8 cents off $1.20 is 7% discount that a one man business couldnt match. Coles recently ran a special whereby if you bought $300 groceries at their supermarket you got 30 cents discount. They ran the special a 2nd time but were prevented by the competition commission. But the first special ran for a month I think. that must have given the one man shows a real knock.

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Its all been said above but let me add my 2 cents. Aus is ruled by the duopoly of Coles and Woolworths. Between the two of them they own everything from Kmart to Big W to Target etc etc. And the same applies to the petrol stations. Furthermore that 4 cents per litre doesnt sound a lot in rands but remember petrol costs $1.20 at the moment. One of the chains, I think Woolworths, has a further special whereby you get an extra 4 cents on top of the first 4 cents if you spend $4 in their petrol shop. So 8 cents off $1.20 is 7% discount that a one man business couldnt match. Coles recently ran a special whereby if you bought $300 groceries at their supermarket you got 30 cents discount. They ran the special a 2nd time but were prevented by the competition commission. But the first special ran for a month I think. that must have given the one man shows a real knock.

Thanks everyone for all your comments.. very helpful and not sure how i feel right now. We have also been told that Aussies will not support us if they know we are "Saffers" .. not sure what you think about that?

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Hello

The person I am working for (ex Zimbabwean) owned a petrol station on the outskirts of perth for 2 hard years. Very difficult to compete with the big petrol stations as they purchase petrol for less than you can sell your petrol, and people are willing to travel a extra few k's to get their 4c/litre discount that the large supermarkets offer. If you email me @ noele4@optusnet.com.au with a list of your questions, I will happily give it to him and he will be more than happy to answer some of your questions, as he has travelled down this road already. Where are you looking at buying a station?

Cheers

Noele

Well. we are looking to buy in Brisbane/ Gold Coast. Would probably be looking at a site that pumps about 300 000l with convenience store- it would be leashold. We are looking to Nett about 120 000$ pa as we seem to think we will need this income in order to match our current lifestyle in Cape Town. We have two small kids. Any other input would be grateful. We have looked at figures on a couple of BP sites in Sydney although we are def set on Brisbane. Just started our 163 visa app. we have also been told that Aussies will not support our site if they find out we are Saffers. so confused now..

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