October 26th, 2009 by admin
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There are three primary reasons why gas stations are a great investment today.
First, in light of the challenging real estate environment, prices for the real estate are at some of the lowest levels in recent history. Also, interest rates are low, and lenders are looking for strong cash flow business models. Gas stations in particular generate significant cash flow which can help finance the purchase. In addition, with most municipalities cutting back on the approval of new stations, the land value of a limited number of locations increases.
Second, the retail side of the gas station business is another great revenue generator, especially for items like great coffee and homemade baked goods. It’s important to make sure that you carry and offer something unique to your station only.
Thirdly, both the state and federal governments are funding and financing the conversion of conventional fueling stations to alternative fuels. Seriously, what could be better than being paid to improve the environment and increase the value of your investment by utilizing someone elses funding mechanism to do so?
In the next blog I will go into each one of these in greater detail and watch for the pitfalls in running a stations in future posting.
October 9th, 2009 by admin
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When investing in alternative energy, there are primarily three different ways to go about it.
The first and easiest way is to do your homework in the stock/equity world of publicly traded entities. Having invested myself in some of the largest public companies, and experiencing the wild fluctuations in today’s stock market, this approach certainly is not for the faint of heart. As an example, the largest solar power company, first solar (FSLR), has moved over a hundred percent several times in the last couple of years, and others like sunpower (SPWR) have experienced the same. If interested, be careful as there will be winners and losers in this market. Big risks and big rewards come together. For a list of these email us.
The second way to invest is to look at locally owned privately held companies. As many of these are cash strapped startups, most of them will welcome your financial investment. Of course the challenge here is to find a management team that you feel comfortable with and are willing to establish a long term relationship with in order to realize substantial return on your investment money.
The third option is to look at your passion and interests in the field and pursue them as a company yourself and partner with others that share the same approach to the field and philosophies. The greatest benefit to this is that you control your own destiny. If you fire yourself you will more than likely know about it, hence you will have increased job security.
All of the above involve tradeoffs between risk and reward. View each approach carefully. As always make sure that you are entering the investment for the right reason. Rarely is it to make a bunch of money and more often than not the best investment is the one that you enter into to make a positive impact on the greater good, and thus you will also be part of the growth in your investment.
Good luck and have fun!
September 28th, 2009 by admin
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Lately I have been touting one of the best alternative investment opportunities of the decade, namely service stations. Before you invest in anything, however, you need to make sure that your current financial house is in order. Talk show hosts like Dave Ramsey (daveramsey.com) and others continuously stress the need to eliminate debt first. Get rid of ALL credit card debt and follow this sound advice, as we are currently going into another round of financial challenges which may last several years.
My concern is that there will be zero public support to have the taxpayers again bail out the companies that were in trouble and remain problematic. I would not invest in domestic stocks, and especially those that cannot support or do not pay out dividends. If you still feel compelled to do so, however, I would look at some equities such as the high yield monthly dividend payers (see http://www.monthly-dividend-stocks.com) which will at least return some cash to you along the way down.
The above stated, watch foreign currencies and look to buy and store your own petroleum in your own gas station tanks.
In future posts here, there will be more to come on converting your station to bio diesel and solar plug-ins. After all, if the government will invest in these technologies why not you too?
Contributed by Peter Grimes on September 28, 2009
September 25th, 2009 by admin
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Credit: Scott Paulus, Business Journal of Milwaukee
Peter Grimes, one of the aur Energy Partners, is planning to bring alternative fuels such as E-85, a gasoline and ethanol mix, biodeisel, and electric charging bays for both all-electric and hybrid vehicles. These futuristic ‘gas stations’ would be the first of their kind in the Milwaukee area. The first one would be located at 5080 S. Pennsylvania Ave, which used to be a shell station.
For more information please check out this article in The Business Journal of Milwaukee.
For more information on aur Energy Partners please visit http://www.aurenergypartners.com
September 24th, 2009 by admin
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Imagine instead of driving to a gas station to buy gasoline, instead you could be fueling your car by jacking it into your gas water heater, gas stove, range, oven, or gas dryer at you or your friends’ home.
An alternative fuel for vehicles is coming soon, and congress is getting behind the initiative with our taxpayer dollars. Natural gas is already powering a bunch of different cars, buses, and other vehicles on the road, most of them experimental. The Honda Civic GX is the only mass produced car which runs on natural gas in the US so far.
Specifically this will benefit the state of Oklahoma, where Chesapeake Energy Corp is located, and $ 30 million per year will be spent over the next five years.
Resources:
America’s Natural Gas Alliance
September 22nd, 2009 by admin
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Renewable energy is the future. You know it, I know it, we all know it, so there’s no point in denying it. Check out this article on solar energy. Check out this article on stuff. More coming soon!
