Seven Factors to Consider Before Building or Buying Petrol Station in Tanzania, So to Improve Performance.
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The fuel market is changing too fast—competition increases. And lowering prices or provide free window washing is not enough to stay ahead in this competitive market.
Whether you are looking to open a new petrol station or buy the fuel station that already exists in the market. Here some areas of focus to ensure you make better decisions to improve operational performance.
1.Location
If you want to build a petrol station, location is a key determinant of whether your petrol station business will fail or succeed.
If you make a mistake in location, the business is already a huge mistake.
For your petrol station business to be set up, you need to set up in the best location in your target city. People make the biggest mistake: they purchase land and rush into building petrol station without doing a little homework.
They spend a lot of money, time and effort building a petrol station only to find that the station is selling a little volume from the market in trading areas.
The petrol station business should have the advantage of being in an easily accessible and obvious location. You should assess how much fuel volume you expect to sell in this area per month.
No matter how good your marketing strategies are, you will make short sales if you build a petrol station in a non-strategic location. Before you pour your blood, sweat, tears, and a lot of time and resources into building a petrol station, you should evaluate your location and do a little homework to know whether your site will sell before you go into the trouble of building petrol station.
You will need to answer “Yes” to this question: “Will a petrol station sell in this area.
.2.Market
When you are in the petrol station business, you are operating in a very lucrative but competitive market.
Successful entrepreneurs in fuel station business understand their competitors and how they are performing, and their strengths and weakness? You should also identify infrastructure and the requirements.
3.Brand
The consumer has a certain perception of particular petroleum brands. Entrepreneurs need to understand the position of their brands and the strength of the brands they would like to acquire
4.Facility.
Your facility should offer great customer experiences and meet their needs. The facility should have enough space for vehicles to queen and make exist turn. By ensuring you keep environment and washrooms clean, you will build customer loyalty.
5.Marketing
The petrol station is no longer a place to buy just fuel. It offers opportunities to do complementary business like car washing, car repair, restaurant, shopping mall, Supermarket, etc.
Offering complimentary services related to petrol stations will bring more customers to your fuel stations and maximize sales volume and revenue.
Read also: A Sample Business Plan for Starting and Running A Petrol/Service Station in Tanzania
6.Prices.
Although selling you fuel at low prices is not the only strategy to stay ahead of the competition in the fuel market. But customers also want to get quality fuel at very fair prices. So look at how your competitor set up prices that please customers and set yours at a competitive price, too. Competitive prices will attract customers to your site.
7.Operations
It is essential to understand that having a service station in a suitable location that is equipped with modern dispensing equipment is not enough in today’s competitive service station division of the oil and gas sector.
To win the competition in today’s crowded retail service station business, you should ensure that your fuels station is managed by efficient and well-trained men who know how to deal with customers and keep them; men who know the products and how to dispense them; men who know sales psychology and safety practices; and men with an agreeable personality that is pleasing and inviting.
I hope this empowers your decision making. Go out there and make it happen; you will thank me later.
