My Dubai Start Up

[melon]

I am opening 3 shops simultaneously on Oct 2009. Signed the lease contracts and currently in the planning and execution stage. The first one is a furniture shop and adjacent is my fashion jewelry and handicrafts store. each of these shops occupy 527 sq.ft space. My 3rd business is a food establishment in a 602 sq.ft. space and offering Philippine delicacies. By the way, Im a Filipino and I have been working in Dubai for more than 3 years now. I have seen how the economy here have grown soooo fast. I am just grabbing the opportunity to join the retail race. And I am selling company shares (not public) to friends and family to complete the start up capital but havent completed the required amount...though I still have 3 months to go. I would really appreciate it if some of you could help me by providing helpful tips to manage them, raise a capital fast or assist me in completing my business plan. i have started the business plan already, have the major topics outlined and i am now going into the details. thanks!

[D.G7]

Lucky man, I can't really help you but all I can say is goodluck with your project. I wish I could start something in Dubai, it looks like a stuning place.

[smartsmart]

good luck :-)

[ifearnopho]

Do you have a local partner yet? If not, choose wisely, negotiate well.

Local partners are required by law in the UAE, and can be a good source of contacts to help raise your capital and later grow your business. Unfortunately very often they are little more than a necessary overhead.

[christopherboucher]

I'm Fillipino too! Congrats on your Dubai projects!

Make sure that you go to entrepreneur.com that will help with lots of your questions.

Also! Efactor.com. It's a great website for entrepreneurs to connect with others.

Alsoooo... USE SOCIAL MEDIA to attract local customers and engage with prospects. A lot of people in the UAE are using facebook. you should too.

[leonyu]

I have been in Dubai for about one week and it is a very good city!

However, the news said UAE is also facing economic crisis due to the sub-prime crisis, so, all the best!

[winnypd]

Hey,
I could help you out with your business plan. And maybe help you set up internal controls and your reporting function. Planning on a startup myself. So please let me know if you're interested.
You could contact me on boseprasanth at gmail dot com
Thanks. Prasanth.

[GriZzly]

Sounds great, but what really concerns me is that you have already signed lease agreements, obtained money from friends/family and are already so far along the path to opening up shop, and yet you haven't completed the business plan yet?

A lot of people think that the business plan has one purpose, to present it to potential investors to convince them to buy into you. The primary purpose of a business plan should be for you to identify the viability of your proposed business. It's a lot easier to convince yourself that your idea will work than it is to convince others.

You really need to get this business plan sorted before you go any further.

[Business Advisor]

Hello Melon,
I work for a Dubai Business Advisors, a company bent on helping other companys and people set up businesses in the United Arab Emirates.

We would be glad to help you...

check out our website, if you like,
dubaibusinessadvisors . com

here is the email of one of the many business advisors we have who can help you
larisag @ dubaibusinessadvisors . com