Digital Social Hour
How I Built 3 Gas Stations Before 30: The Inside Truth | Kristofer Danielson DSH #1083
Fri, 10 Jan 2025
how do you start a gas station business, starting a gas station business plan, gas station jobs in canada, how to start a business, millionaire mindset, tax advantages canada, how to start gas station business in canada, how to start a gas station business in usa, gas station for sale, gas station business in canada, gas station franchisesFrom a government desk job to building a $40M/year gas station empire at age 26 - discover how Kristofer turned a $25,000 investment into 3 thriving gas stations on First Nation reserves in Canada. 🚀 Learn the inside secrets of the gas station business as Kristofer shares his journey from business student to successful entrepreneur. Find out why store profits matter more than gas sales, how he leveraged tax advantages on reserves to gain a competitive edge, and what it takes to scale in this capital-intensive industry. Kristofer reveals his unconventional path to success, including buying used gas pumps from Craigslist, working 16-hour days in -40° weather, and navigating unique financing challenges on First Nation land. Get real insights on profit margins, business strategy, and what it takes to build a multi-million dollar operation from scratch. Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur or business enthusiast, this candid conversation unpacks the realities of building a successful gas station empire and proves that age is just a number when it comes to achieving massive business success. 💪 Join Sean Kelly on Digital Social Hour for this eye-opening discussion about entrepreneurship, scaling businesses, and seizing opportunities others might miss. 🎯 #gasstationforsale #taxadvantagescanada #smallbusiness #millionaire #howtostartabusiness CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - Gas Station Industry Journey 05:00 - ProLon Sponsorship 07:40 - Tai Lopez Insights 08:45 - Business Goals and Objectives 10:32 - Financing Strategies for Reserves 11:39 - High Reward Ventures 17:40 - Understanding Taxes 18:31 - Extreme Weather Challenges 19:48 - Future of Gas Prices 20:40 - Gas Station Profit Margins 21:53 - Business Model Overview 23:19 - Competitive Advantages Explained 24:50 - Passive Income in Business 26:20 - US vs Canada Business Comparison 26:40 - Gas Station Valuation Multiples 27:20 - Understanding EBITDA 28:27 - Cryptocurrency in Business 29:18 - Finding Kristofer APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected] GUEST: Kristofer Danielson https://x.com/kccj12 https://www.instagram.com/krisdanielson1011 SPONSORS: Prolon: http://prolonlife.com/DSH LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Digital Social Hour works with participants in sponsored media and stays compliant with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations regarding sponsored media. #ad
Chapter 1: How did Kristofer Danielson start his gas station business?
Absolutely. So how did you stumble across getting into gas stations?
So I started in 2020, my first gas station. It was actually a convenience store to start. So I was basically in Ottawa, in Canada, which is the capital at the time. I was in business school for business administration at Algonquin College. And I was in my last year, I was thinking about what to do next, what my big move is. And I was working for the federal government of Canada at the time.
And, you know, I was I moved up pretty quickly in my two years there and it was good. I enjoyed it. It was just, you know, one day I was just kind of taking my lunch and I was looking out outside from the skyscraper and I was like. Um, you know, maybe this isn't something that I want to do, uh, for the rest of my life.
Cause like I sort of seen the progressions in the government, like, you know, you become, um, basically a senior senior team lead, then a manager director, and then you can become an executive as well in the government. And I sort of seen that pathway and I wanted to at least try and do something else while I was young because I was I was 19 at the time.
You know, you hear big entrepreneurs all the time say, do it while you're young. So I was like, yeah, why not? And so I first came of the idea, actually. So I'm from Thunder Bay, Ontario. That's where I was born and raised. And I am First Nation as well, and I'm a part of a reserve, Fort William First Nation in Canada. I know in the U.S. you guys call it like an Indian reservation. Yeah.
It's the same thing. Okay. We just call it reserves in Canada. But, yeah, so, you know, there's a lot of gas stations on Fort William I've seen. Uh, and there was a prime real estate, uh, piece of property. And when I inquired sort of who, who owned it, it was actually my great uncle. Wow. Who had a gas station there in the nineties before.
And, um, you know, it, uh, it didn't really work out for him just, uh, just due to personal reasons. But, uh, I acquired that piece of land off of them. And, uh, it was basically all my money at the time. I believe it was like 25,000. I saved up in the government and just working various jobs, you know, did, um, um, other things as well. Um,
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Chapter 2: What are the advantages of running a gas station on a reserve?
But then I seen like there's massive gas stations on my reserve because there's no sales tax. Like we don't have to pay the sales tax on the fuel. So that's why it's significantly lower fuel cost on the reserve as opposed to in town.
um so there's 13 tax in canada in in ontario it varies from province to province but 13 in ontario so on average you know we can be lower like 30 to 50 cents a liter sometimes than in town so if you extend that offer to an entire city especially for something like a commodity like gas you know everyone will take you up on that offer and The entire city of Thunder Bay comes out.
Basically, we turned the entire city around in seven days. So it's quite large, the market out there. So I seen the market and I was like, you know, I could probably do this too. It doesn't seem impossible to start a gas station. So I sort of just went out on my own. This was before the time of ChatGBT. So you really had to dig deep on Google how to start a gas station.
Even today, there's not a whole lot on gas stations on the internet, like how you can even start them, how you go about doing it. So I had to learn just brick by brick. I started just contacting big fuel suppliers that I could find in the area and started talking with them about it. Basically, I was 19 at the time, and I was just kind of learning.
But in my mind, from my perspective, it just didn't seem all that impossible to sell gas and smoke. And that's pretty much what gas stations do. They do make most of the profit inside the store.
I heard that, so that's true?
It is true, yes. Okay. And specifically on the cigarettes. Really? That's the highest margin item? Yeah, cigarettes, chews, zin, vapes, all that's the highest margin stuff. And then the confectionery stuff is still-
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Chapter 3: How does financing work for gas stations in Canada?
Chapter 4: What are the primary profit margins for gas stations?
Yeah, because they're in the middle of nowhere. So finding someone to work there is going to be pretty difficult. That makes sense. But no, well done, man. And you've scaled this to three locations now, right? Yep.
Recently, I just acquired my third gas station on the reserve.
And you were doing $30 million a year in revenue.
Yeah. Yeah, that was last year.
So we're going to do even more of this here?
Yeah, it'll be probably closer to 40 or more. Holy crap.
You're only 26 years old.
Yeah.
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Chapter 5: How did Kristofer scale his business to three locations?
Chapter 6: What challenges did Kristofer face with extreme weather?
Chapter 7: What is the future of gas prices according to Kristofer?
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Still pretty good to sell, but cigarettes is the main profit.
Interesting, yeah, because the gas prices are regulated, right? So you can't charge whatever you want for the gas?
I don't think they are. Oh, they're not? No.
Oh, maybe that's a Canadian thing or something.
Yeah.
Because in the U.S. I thought they were.
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Chapter 8: What entrepreneurial lessons did Kristofer learn early on?
No. And it's written that way because it's like you can't use a bank, basically. So what I had to do in short is basically find private lenders that just trusted me pretty much.
Wow. That is difficult because I could just go to a bank, get a $50,000 credit card right now, zero percent interest for the first year.
And that's what I seen. I seen the opportunity and I knew that there were challenges to actually start a gas station, especially they're super capital expenditure heavy. So it can cost like millions of dollars for one gas station to build, you know, just one. And I have three. So I had to go out and find financing basically.
I can see why people don't get into it because it's a high risk, high reward, right?
Yeah. Yeah.
Or high risk and the margins are thin. So I don't even know if that's high reward.
Yeah. You know, you say 40 million, but, you know, we're making like a low single percentage profit margins.
Right. So it's a volume game then.
It definitely is. Yeah. Volume.
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