How To Start A Convenience Store

How to start a convenience store is a question on the minds of many budding entrepreneurs who want to have their own business but who are not sure how to go about it.

Convenience stores offer customers the flexibility to shop at odd hours in their local neighborhoods.

Most convenience stores also sell gasoline and food items alongside a full range of grocery products.

In 2007, there were 145,000 convenience stores in the US. The good news is that a large majority of the gasoline bought in the country was obtained through a convenient store customers encountered as they traveled.

Convenience Stores Vs. Supermarkets

Convenience stores typically have about 500 products - as opposed to almost 50,000 products in a supermarket.

Supermarkets store more categories of products, while convenience stores have 4-5 categories of products. Supermarkets are much bigger than your average grocery store, with over 50,000 square feet of area in a prime location.

Keep these differences in mind as you go about learning how to start a convenience store.

How To Start A Convenience Store

Where you start a convenience store depends on where you are likely to get the most business. People do not like to travel huge distances to shop for basic items such as food, snacks, cigarettes, milk etc., so keep the store close to a residential area of at least 1,500 people.

Locating close to major establishments such as hotels, schools, universities, and movie theaters can also bring in customers. For example, people often pick up items on the spur of the moment while heading home after an evening at a bowling alley.

Most mom and pop stores faded out because they could not match the facilities and product ranges offered by supermarkets. Make sure that your convenience store does not suffer a similar fate. Locate it away from supermarkets if possible and if there is a mall or similar service nearby diversify into different product categories to allow yourself to still compete.

You will need some startup capital to rent/purchase retail space, and loans are ideal for this. Collaborating with an investor is also a good idea. Apart from the rent and parking space, you will also need to invest in stocks, interiors, office supplies, credit card machines, and any additional facilities desired such as vending machines.

Be careful about what you stock. If your store is close to a university, stock plenty of snacks, soft drinks, comics, and milk. A gum vending machine will increase sales as well. Offer ice cream, health products, cookies, and groceries if your grocery store is near to a residential complex.

Supplies

Choose your suppliers carefully. You can join an association of grocery store owners to buy supplies collectively at wholesale rates. Different convenience store distributors will sell different supplies, so you can take advantage of this without putting yourself in direct competition.

Some deal in produce such as fruits and vegetables, while others sell packaged goods ranging from toothpastes and soaps to beauty products. Still others sell magazines and comics as their specialties.

By understanding how to start a convenience store, you will be able to open doors to greater income and a better lifestyle for yourself and your family.

<< Retail Business Opportunities | How To Start A Convenience Store