10 important things you need to know about VAT in UAE
Here’s a rundown of what you need to know about VAT – from what products and services are subject to it to knowing whether companies are trying to pull a fast one on you
MoreUAE named as Middle East’s best place to do business
World Bank ranks the UAE 21st globally as reforms continue to cut red tape for businesses. The UAE has been named as the Middle East’s top country for doing business in the latest ranking published by the World Bank.
MoreBe Smarter at Cost Cutting
Almost all companies have or will need to cut costs to survive in the current environment. Unfortunately, not all do cost cutting smartly. Consider these three pieces of advice before making cuts:
More4 Things to Consider Before Expanding Your Business
Getting through an expansion requires proper planning. Before you consider growing your business, there are a few crucial steps you need to take if you want to come out successful.
MoreIT Insecurity: It’s Not the Technology
Despite all the dazzling technology being used to create information and then defend it, today’s best view of the IT insecurity problem can be found by looking in the mirror.
MoreMake Achieving Your Long-Term Goals More Fun in the Short Term
Recent research has found something that can help: incorporating immediate benefits into your pursuit of longer-term goals. Make the short-term activities fun.
MoreSOUQ.COM – The Story that teaches you to dream big
We come across several SME owners every day – some talk about hardships, some about success and some about failure. They share their different experiences; each journey is unique in its own way.
More10 Metrics Every Growing Business Must Keep An Eye On
Entrepreneurs have no trouble focusing on how to build a product, and the good ones know how to find and nurture those first critical customers. Many, however, don’t know how to take their small business to the next level
MoreThe 10 Commandments of Customer Experience
When thinking about the customer experience (CX), there are at least 10 commandments that must be adhered to as you embark on your CX journey. These are essentials to ensure a successful CX transformation. Here’s what I’ve come up with, in no particular order.
More5 Little Known Advantages Of Starting Your Business With A Business Plan
How many have gone into business without a business plan? And how many would still go into business without taking the time to prepare this all-important piece of the document?
More45 free zones in the UAE: Find the right one for your new business
There are over 20 free zones in Dubai alone and each caters to a specific business category.
Establishing your business in a free zone gives you 100 per cent ownership and repatriation of revenues as well as profits.
Debunking the myths – ISO 9001
ISO 9001 is a standard that sets out the requirements for a quality management system. It helps businesses and organizations be more efficient and improve customer satisfaction.
MoreExpo 2020: Giving small firms a slice of big action
The UAE has given a major boost to small and medium enterprises in food and beverage sector by unveiling ‘modified terms’ for SMEs to bid more competitively and generate Dh2 billion in sales from onsite food and beverages business at Expo
MoreRichard Branson’s advise to young Entrepreneurs
Many entrepreneurs come up with ideas for businesses while studying – they’re then faced with the decision of continuing with their studies, or taking a chance on their business. Should they drop out of college, like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs, to follow their business dreams? Richard Branson, who dropped out of school at the age of 15, has some advice…
More4 Common Financial Mistakes Every Small Business Owner Should Avoid
Every entrepreneur and business owner will make a few financial mistakes during their journey. Those who aren’t savvy in accounting often overlook the need to brush up on their financial IQ.
More11 things nobody tells you about starting business in the UAE
Setting up business in the UAE is easier than anywhere else in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena). According to the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2016 report, the nation ranks 31. Here are 11 things nobody tells you about starting business in the UAE from managing operational finance to handling bureaucratic obstacles
MoreHow to Pick the Right Team for Your Startup
A 10-step guide to making sure your startup succeeds where so many others fail.
If you’re putting a team together for the first time, there’s a good chance that you’ve already got a few people in mind. But, before you start rallying the troops and investing big, it’s important to know what the DNA of a winning startup team looks like — and how you can avoid common (but fatal) mistakes.
7 Signs Your Company Has Good Financial Health
It’s somewhat easy to determine if your company is doing well. You’ll be in the black every month, able to make your payroll and pay all of your monthly bills and expenses. But are there discernible levels or observable distinctions that reliably signify good financial health? Or are there ways to determine how well you’re doing beyond the norm?
MoreDare to dream big: three innovators change the world with standards
Three Inspiring Innovators tell the story of how International Standards helped them reach new heights in their search for technologies that could transform the world we know today.
MoreHere is how Dubai residents can cut electricity bills by 90%
Savings can come up to Dh984 per year. Residents will soon be able to cut their energy bills by 90 per cent as Dubai Lamp will be released in markets by end of this month, Dubai Municipality officials said on Monday.
MoreMake Time for Strategic Thinking Every Day
If you believe that only senior executives need to think strategically, think again.
No matter what level you’re at, strategic thinking is a critical skill — one that can always be improved.
Five Issues UAE Businesses Need To Be Prepared For In 2017
As we enter 2017, there are a number of issues that owners of UAE businesses of all sizes and across all sectors will face. In this article, I will highlight the areas we, as a business ourselves, feel will be hot topic items in 2017, and the biggest issues our existing clients have been engaging us about when preparing financial forecasts for the new fiscal year.
MoreAll you need to know about local sponsorship in the UAE
It is very important for foreign investors to understand the role and functions of local sponsors
One of the challenges to start and operate a business in the United Arab Emirates ‘mainland’ is the element of the local sponsor owning 51 per cent of the business.
Dos and Don’t s for start-ups eyeing UAE free zones
Acquiring a free zone licence can be that first step to being a successful entrepreneur. Just heed these dos and don’ts
MoreUse Breathing to Stay Grounded in Stressful Moments
Practicing mindfulness is as much physical as it is mental. Paying attention to your body can help you stay calm in stressful moments. This is called anchoring — noticing your physical experience rather than avoiding it.
More3 Unusual Ways to Grow Your Business in the UAE
All businesses need exposure, but even more than that, you need paying customers and you need the cost to acquire a customer to be less than the life-time value of that customer, so you can profitably scale your business.
The fastest way to get exposure is advertising, but it can be expensive and needs a lot of monitoring. That is why you will find these unusual ways of getting exposure for your business to be useful.
4 New Ways to Self-Fund Your Startup
Bootstrapping is a perfectly viable option, unless you’re launching a business that needs staff, equipment or contractors, in which case you need money.
MoreHow to Stay Focused: Train Your Brain
As an entrepreneur, you have a lot on your plate. Staying focused can be tough with a constant stream of employees, clients, emails, and phone calls demanding your attention. Amid the noise, understanding your brain’s limitations and working around them can improve your focus and increase your productivity.
More15 Surprising Things Productive People Do Differently
I recently interviewed over 200 ultra-productive people including seven billionaires, 13 Olympians, 20 straight-A students and over 200 successful entrepreneurs. I asked a simple, open-ended question, “What is your number one secret to productivity?” After analyzing all of their responses, I coded their answers into 15 unique ideas.
MoreManaging your Energy
As organizations demand more and more from their people, time-pressed employees have to scramble to keep up. You may not be able to make the day any longer, but you can replenish your energy. Use these 4 simple ways to help you work smarter and prevent burnout:
MoreInterview with VP of a large shipping agency based in UAE
We hope his interview will inspire the readers and help them to provide meaningful advice to whom they serve.
MoreThe 7 Deadly Financial Sins of Small Businesses
This year’s tax season has finally been put to bed. And many people — both small-business owners and consumers — are breathing a collective sigh of relief. However, there is a fundamental difference between business and personal finances when it comes to taxes
More10 Financial Resolutions for the New Year
The New Year is a great time to overhaul your financial life for the better, and one excellent place to start is by making good financial resolutions that can help get you closer to your money goals. Here are a few you might consider adding to your own personal agenda.
MoreFinancial Coach, Financial Advisor, Or Financial Planner: Which Should You Use?
Getting your finances in shape can be a tall order. It’s not the most exciting topic for many people and it can be extremely confusing to try to make sense of all of the details without making a mistake.
MoreOnly Celebrate Certain Types of Failures
We all know there can be no innovation without risk. Encouraging risk taking and accepting failure can help boost innovation
More6 Accounting Tips for SMEs
Weigh the option of hiring a professional accountant and Do it yourself accounting or Outsourcing to an expert
MoreMake Delegating Easier for Managers
All managers know they’re supposed to delegate, but too many of them are still doing too much themselves.
MoreDeming’s management method can help you increase employee engagement
W. Edwards Deming’s 14 points and system of profound knowledge can help organizations overcome the management practices causing this disengagement, and provide a method to support a culture of employee engagement.
MoreUAE shoppers seek clarity on illegal credit card fee
The Consumer Protection Division in Dubai clearly advises customers: “When purchasing products you should be given the same price irrespective of your paying by cash or credit card.”
MoreWhy you need Business Plan for Expansion or New Company?
A well-crafted business plan generates enthusiasm for your idea and boosts your odds of success-whether you’re proposing a new initiative within your organization or starting an entirely new company.
MoreOutsourced accounting services in dubai
Outsourcing accounts is thus beneficial as it may not be economical to employ similar in-house accounts / finance executives and managers. By completely or partially outsourcing accounts, an organization can receive much higher level of management information reports at nearly one-third the cost.
Outsource bookkeeping, outsource accounting, outsource financial management, or outsource auditing – you will definitely save on costs of resignations / terminations, costs of appraisals / increments, cost of salary & leave salary & other related costs.
Why Every Small Business Needs a Backup and Disaster Recovery Plan
As a digitally active business in 2016, you can’t afford to lose your data. Whether at the hands of a natural disaster, human error, or cyber attack, data loss is costly and extremely risky. That’s why you need a backup and disaster recovery solution.
MoreDubai free zone installs Middle East’s first Smart Street Solution
Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority, in collaboration with Huawei, the global ICT solutions provider, has installed the first Smart Street Solution in the Middle East region at Dubai Silicon Oasis, the free zone technology park.
The Smart Street Solution incorporates a number of advanced features geared towards creating a friendly and secure environment for the community, a statement said.
5 Rules for Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the art of finding profitable solutions to problems. Every successful entrepreneur or business person has been able to identify a problem and come up with a solution to it before someone else did. Here are the five rules for success.
MoreThe Only 5 Things You Need to Launch a Startup in Any Economy
In 2008, one of my startups, Career Marketplace, was sinking fast.
The market had tanked, new business was hard to come by and jobs were drying up. Career Marketplace, an online intermediary for job seekers and job creators, was getting hit particularly hard.
Maintain Your Entrepreneurial Passion by Being Flexible
Most of us think of entrepreneurs as passionate professionals who have a “fire in their belly.” But it’s hard to maintain that level of dedication no matter how passionate you are, and research has shown that entrepreneurs’ enthusiasm for their projects can fade over time.
MoreBusiness Productivity Apps
The perfect apps for sales people, entrepreneurs, business developers or marketing experts, and anyone who want to be one.
Get instant access to global business and finance news, market data and portfolio tracking tools from the world’s most trusted source. Personalize the information that matters to you most and access it instantly.
MoreHow SMEs Can Overcome Five Key Business Challenges
Let’s be realistic. Nobody said starting and running a business would be easy and whether you’re a new startup or an established SME, this rings true especially when it comes to branding, marketing and PR strategies.
Here are some commonly faced obstacles –and how to overcome them- on the road to business success
Customer Service – 6 easy tips
MoreBusiness Negotiation
In #BrianTracy’s words, “fortunately, negotiation is a skill, and all skills are learnable. The key to getting a better deal…Just ASK”
MoreOutsourcing the HR function
Why should you outsource your Human Resource function?
“… important and effective method is to outsource the whole HRM function to a third party so that the SME can focus on its core activities.
…it can generate considerable savings for the firm while ensuring that required tasks are performed by companies who specialists in the area.