Common Mistakes and Important Lessons

Foreign companies face similar challenges and make comparable mistakes when trying to do business in the UAE.

Common mistakes that foreign companies make include:

• Underestimating time: establishing a business in the UAE takes more time than in most Western countries
  • Patience is key, from the time of corporate formation to the expense burn period before turning profits

• Miscalculating the expense needed to launch properly
  • Plan a longer launch period

• Hiring “experts” based in the US
  • It is recommended to hire UAE business development consulting firms
  • Courts are undergoing significant changes, laws can sometime appear opaque and ambiguous. Local support can be invaluable

• Assuming that free zones are by default the best option
  • Depending on the company’s ambitions, a joint partnership might be a better option

• Launching with too big an overhead, instead of in phases

• Mispricing products/services