The most visible challenge that comes inherent in the operations of Gas station is the "balance between supply and demand" of the fuel
There is a great degree of uncertainty as to whether the reserves are enough to prove adequate for the vehicles that arrive for "re-fuelling" or not. However, the issue can not be over-looked as even if just few of the automobiles have to leave the filling point, "un-filled", it would exert considerable negative effect on the reputation of the gas station.
Also, the fuel is offered at the stations under a number of brands. Stocks for all of these should be enough to make the customer available the "desired product". This can be a major hurdle, considering the dynamicity of the external surroundings.
Another fact is the "fluctuation in the prices" of the fuel, which the owners have to deal with. The variations in the cost should be absorbed to the maximum extent possible to avoid shedding of the "customer base".
Severe competition in the sector is yet another entrant that intensifies the "market share fight". Even minor changes in the rates can cause the "queue of customers" to shorten.
Further, the economic state of the nation is an important and considerable factor that affects both the rates of fuels and commuting patterns of vehicle-owners. Any major disturbance in the scenario gets transferred to the "volume of fuel" that goes off from a given re-filling station. On the other hand, as the prices start moving north, people go towards car-pooling and public transport to minimize the consumption. This in turn, exerts a synergistic effect in the form of drop in "fuel-flow" from the station.
The recent happenings in the global financial scenario make the events all the more evident and provide a solid ground to the fact that "owing and operating a gas station" demands considerable efforts on the part of owner.
Moreover, the entry and exit barriers in this industry are high to make both "surviving" and "thriving" a necessity.
To achieve these aims, the operations of the organization have to be flawless in every sense. This asks for implementation of a technique to support and assist the operations. One of the routes is to employ indicators that are attached with target values.
Internal operations can be measured using the KPIs like "number of vehicles it caters to", "time taken for re-filling on average", "number of pumps" and "average waiting time". Efficiency Perspective can be obtained by utilizing the indicators such as "refusal index", "fraction that is premium", "% dip in the number of customers lost owing to the more than average waiting time" and "% rise in the number of vehicles refilled, on per employee basis". Financial position can be had with parameters- "average daily business volume", "annual earnings", "positive deviation from nation"s average price" and "% increase in net profit". Growth can be obtained with "increase in number of cars that are re-filled", "% increase in consumption of fuel", "number of brands of fuel offered" and "increase in the number of services offered".
Embedding these metrics under useful and relevant categories can make a significant difference in "performance evaluation". This in turn, will magnify the results observed with the similar amounts of efforts put in.