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