Buying a gas station or convenience store in South Florida
South Florida has 182 established gas stations and convenience stores by our count: companies in business at least 15 years that still file with the state every year and aren't part of a larger group. Of those, 66% have been in business 20 years or more. Most will never be listed for sale, and many of their owners have never been asked.
What it takes to own one
Gas stations and convenience stores in South Florida come in every size. Here's what owning one could look like at three levels, from a solid company to one of the leaders, with a small business loan covering most of the price.
- Earns about
- $76,000 a year
- Price about
- $179,000
- Your cash
- $25,000
- Could pay you
- up to $44,000 a year
- Earns about
- $143,000 a year
- Price about
- $336,000
- Your cash
- $47,000
- Could pay you
- up to $82,000 a year
- Earns about
- $209,000 a year
- Price about
- $491,000
- Your cash
- $69,000
- Could pay you
- up to $120,000 a year
Earnings are owner earnings: profit plus what the owner pays themselves, before loan payments and taxes. They and the prices are our estimates from public records, not the owners' figures, and we value companies like these at about 2.4 times a year's owner earnings. Your cash covers the down payment and closing costs, and what the business could pay you is what's left after the loan payments and the cushion lenders require. The more cash you bring, the further up you can go.
Age, size and location
Revenue is our estimate from public records, grouped into wide ranges.
| In business | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under 20 years | 62 |
| 20 to 29 years | 72 |
| 30 to 39 years | 40 |
| 40 years or more | 8 |
| Estimated yearly revenue | Companies |
|---|---|
| Under $1M | 56 |
| $1M to $2M | 26 |
| $2M to $4M | 9 |
| $4M to $8M | 2 |
| Over $8M | 1 |
| County | Companies |
|---|---|
| Miami-Dade | 103 |
| Palm Beach | 40 |
| Broward | 35 |
| Other counties | 4 |
| Town | Companies |
|---|---|
| Miami | 56 |
| Lake Worth | 9 |
| Hialeah | 8 |
| West Palm Beach | 8 |
| Miami Beach | 7 |
| Homestead | 6 |
| Sunrise | 6 |
What the best gas stations and convenience stores have in common
- Strong inside sales compared with fuel, including food or coffee that brings people in on its own.
- A corner with easy access on a road people use every day, near homes, work sites or a highway exit.
- Tanks, lines and pumps in good condition, with clean inspection records from DEP and FDACS.
- A supply agreement you can live with: a reasonable remaining term, volume minimums you can hit, and no big payback if it ends.
- Register records that split sales by category and match supplier invoices and tax returns.
- A manager and core staff who have stayed for years and can run the store when you're not there.
- Pumps with current card readers and the required anti-skimming protection.
What to check before you buy
- Environmental condition. Get a Phase I environmental site assessment (a review of the site's records and history), with testing if it flags risk, plus DEP inspection reports, tank ages, leak detection records and any spill reports.
- The supply agreement. Can you take it over, what volumes does it require, and what would leaving early cost?
- Security rules. Stores selling alcohol or tobacco that open any time from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. generally need cameras, a drop safe, a silent alarm, a lit lot and clear windows (sections 812.171 and 812.173).
- Generator wiring. Stations built or substantially renovated since July 2006, and larger ones near an interstate or evacuation route, must be prewired for a generator (section 526.143).
- The seller's unpaid taxes. Buying more than half of a business or its assets can make you liable for the seller's unpaid state taxes, up to the greater of the price or the business's value (section 213.758). Get a Department of Revenue certificate of compliance before closing, and ask your attorney about also holding back part of the price.
Questions to ask the owner
- How much of your profit comes from fuel, and how much from inside the store?
- How old are the tanks and lines, and has the site ever had a reported leak or cleanup?
- What does your fuel supply agreement require, and how long does it have left?
- What's selling more inside, and what's selling less?
- How did the store do in the last hurricane, and does it have a generator hookup?
- Who works overnight, and how long have your main people been with you?
- Have you had any problems with skimmers, robberies or sales to minors?
To learn what these companies do, which licenses they need and how ownership works, read our full guide to buying a gas station or convenience store in Florida.
Owning a company in South Florida
The local economy
South Florida covers Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties: Miami, Hialeah, Doral, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Jupiter, and the Florida Keys down to Key West. It's the state's largest metro area and its most international. PortMiami, Port Everglades and Miami International Airport tie the region to Latin America and the Caribbean, which supports a deep base of wholesalers, freight forwarders and logistics firms, many of them near the airport. Tourism and cruises, finance and wealth management, health care, real estate and construction carry much of the rest. Palm Beach County adds wealthy seasonal residents and, out west near Lake Okeechobee, sugarcane and vegetable farms. In the Keys, nearly everything turns on visitors, fishing and boating.
Companies that serve homes, condo buildings and other businesses do well here: the building trades, property services, insurance agencies, medical and dental practices, and professional firms.
What's different about owning a company here
Costs run high: commercial rent, wages and, above all, property and windstorm insurance. Price the insurance before you make an offer, not after. Miami-Dade and Broward make up the Florida Building Code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, with stricter rules for roofs, windows and structures. That raises building costs, and it also gives steady work to the contractors who know those rules well.
Much of the workforce and many customers speak Spanish as well as English, and a company that works well in both languages has an edge. The winter season matters more in Palm Beach County and the Keys than in Miami. In the Keys, the cost of housing makes hiring and keeping staff one of the hardest parts of running a company. Ask any seller there how they find workers and where those workers live.