You only make a few cents per gallon on the gas sales. All the rest of your profit is going to come from trying to entice people inside to buy other stuff. Expect for the first 6 months to a year that you will be sinking all of your profits back into the business and not taking a salary; your startup costs will be significant. Construction (unless you buy something already built), insurance, inventory, utilities, permits and fees, etc. So you should keep some cash in reserve to live off of for the short term.
If you are buying one that is already established, question very strongly why they are selling and have a professional review the books carefully. You have to ask why would someone get out of a business that is supposedly profitable, and then try to find the answer. Could be something as understandable as retirement, but could be otherwise.
You need to contact a Commercial business agent and find gas stations for sale. There you will find out how much money they can make from their accounts.
It's just a few cents a gallon, when gas prices go up they can earn less from reduced sales volume. The convenience store part is an important revenue generating part.
http://www.inc.com/sageworks/running-on-...
http://www.ehow.com/info_7753422_average...
The business itself?
I work for a drugstore chain and I think my store hauls in $3000 a day by profits alone.
This is a bit of a guess, though.
alot because people travel alottt
