Parm Bhullar says she put about $1 million into her first gas station without picturing a group of them. She had spent 15 years in retail and knew fuel alone would not make a site.

She and her partners now run eight Arco and Shell stations in Washington's Whatcom County, built in about three years. She says the locations kept growing during the pandemic stretch when fuel sales elsewhere fell.

The episode is about the first business plan, the teams that stay and the customer habits she credits for standing out. She puts the group's year at about $37 million.

More than the pump

On Upflip she talks through what opening a station actually requires after the plan is written. The people at the counter get as much time as the fuel price.

The yearly figure is hers. The start was one station and a retail career that taught her the store side.