The origins of Autoil date back to 2014, with the operation of a proprietary gas station located in the town of Museros, Valencia. The success of its service and management model encouraged its owner, José Vicente Noguera, to expand his business with new gas stations starting in 2021. Its growth has been exponential, and it will close 2024 with ten service stations operating in the Valencian Community. In this interview, José Vicente Noguera explains the key to this success, supported by Kaizen Consulting in consultancy and advisory services for obtaining financing.
– In just 3 years, Autoil will grow from one gas station to ten. How is this achieved?
– We realized that there was and still is a gap in the market for our model. Autoil service stations offer quality service at a reasonable price. Many brands have given up having employees to handle refueling, not just low-cost service stations. Our model was well received from the start; for us, customer service is important: good service and also a good price. Customers who go to a gas station do value good service. In all our service stations, consumer response has been very positive from day one. The success of each one has allowed us to grow, along with the support of Kaizen Consulting, which has helped us structure our company and secure the financing we need for each new opening.
– How do you establish a proprietary brand in such a competitive market?
– Creating a proprietary brand is very challenging in the gas station sector. There is a lot of competition, and opening new locations is expensive. But we are clear that our model for building the Autoil brand is to open new service stations. We are a 100% private company and initially funded our expansion ourselves, but there came a point when we needed specialized help to continue with our plan to open new establishments. That’s when we turned to Kaizen Consulting.
– What did you ask Kaizen Consulting for?
– We explained our need for financing to continue growing. In this business, the location of the station is crucial for its success, which entails a high cost. We started working last year, and within a few months, we accessed the liquidity we needed because we don’t want to be running tight. We also prepay for fuel, so we have a double need: long-term financing for purchasing or building service stations and also policies and confirming for working capital.
– In your case, there has been dual advisory: consultancy and financing search.
– Yes, Kaizen’s help has been twofold in our case: consultancy on one hand and financing search on the other. Although we had experience, Álvaro Benítez (partner responsible for the Consulting area) helped us better define our business plan. He provided us with more data and information to improve financial planning, gave us greater insight into the business possibilities, and helped explain our project to the banks. Inés del Villar led the financing acquisition process, and together with the consultancy work, we were able to secure the liquidity we wanted.
– What would you highlight about working with Kaizen Consulting?
– Beyond the achieved results and the help in developing my business, what I value above all is that the Kaizen Consulting team takes my project personally. Feeling how an external company fully engages with your business as if it were their own is the best aspect of their service. I actually recommend them to other entrepreneurs I know.
– What are Autoil’s future plans?
– We are going to continue growing; we are well received, and we are convinced there is room to continue on this path and open new stations. In 2023, we opened in Picassent and Foios; in January and February of this year, the service stations in Xirivella and Gandía started operating, and we now have two more under construction in San Antonio de Benagéber and Dénia. Our idea is to have organic expansion and study opportunities to grow with new gas stations. And we will continue to rely on Kaizen Consulting to achieve this.
