Advice Please on starting a business...
 

Hi, I'm new to this site - but a regular on the Oz site! I was wondering how difficult it would be for a foreigner to start a business in Dubai? It would be selling personalised music CDs for children (already huge in the UK), and I'm thinking it could do well in Dubai - both with the big expat population and with the huge number of foreign visitors.

Does anyone have experience of doing anything like that or can put me in the right direction for some good information?

Are there lots of young expat mums and dads in Dubai or is it really a singles culture?

Many thanks....

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

I'm not the best person to answer, but i think most people would be enjoying their weekend's out there by now... but there are a lot of family's out there so you should have a market although i'm quite sure what you mean by personalised CD's...

Not sure if the laws have changed but unless you're in a "free zone" you have to have an emirati as a business partner to sponsor the business.

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

yes cham is right and you will need a lot of money! I mean alot! there is alot of red tape here and if you were thinking of opening up a retail outlet expect to pay extortionate rents. I wouldn't dream of trying to start a business up out here, it would drive me mad!!! How about selling your CD's via another retailer? said ELC or something like that.

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

And there's always door to door like the chinese DVD people..

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

or how about over the web but concentrate marketing, PR and advertising in Dubai so you people will still order?

how about an mp3 service? get them to order all the tracks and you can basically then allow them to download all of them in one zipped file (nothing more annoying than having to download 18 tracks seperately

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

you have those there too? :lol:

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

yup we have got them here ! we got everything here! :lol:

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

They are always sneaking about after dark..

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

Apart from kebab vans...

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

but we don't need them, there's a shawarma shop wherever you turn, lol...

MM, xx

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

Its not the same..

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

no...it isn't a health hazard and actually tastes decent when sober, lmao...

MM, xx

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

sometimes I like a little something thats bad for me... ;)

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

ohhh me too...but it sure as hell isn't a kebab from a van...!!

MM, xx

Re: Advice Please on starting a business...
 

Oh.. I've eaten worse..