If we’re honest, there probably hasn’t been a “perfect” time to grow a business for quite a while.
Earlier this year, the UAE found itself at the centre of a wave of headlines that left many founders asking the same question: is now still the right time to expand?
Economic uncertainty. Regional tensions. Shifting global trade dynamics. Depending on which headline you read, it was either the perfect moment to invest or a reason to wait.
Several months on, we’re now in a much better position to separate perception from reality.
At Strive Consultants and Founders Law, we’ve spent the past few months advising businesses that are establishing operations, hiring teams and raising investment across the UAE. Looking back, what’s striking isn’t that founders stopped expanding.
It’s that most didn’t.
Instead of putting growth plans on hold, they adapted. They adjusted hiring strategies, rethought fundraising timelines and looked for smarter ways to enter the market while keeping their options open.
The question has shifted from “Should we wait?” to something much more practical:
How do we expand into the UAE intelligently, even when the wider world feels unpredictable?
That’s what this article explores.
Uncertainty Isn’t Stopping Expansion. It’s Changing How Founders Approach It.
Recent research from HSBC found that more than three-quarters of businesses are planning to expand into new international markets over the next two years. In fact, some businesses say recent global trade developments have actually accelerated their plans rather than delayed them.
That reflects many of the conversations we’re having. Founders aren’t ignoring uncertainty. They’re just becoming more selective about what deserves their attention.
Five years ago, expansion conversations often focused on growth opportunities first and risks second.
Today, the best founders are looking at both simultaneously. They’re asking:
- Where is demand coming from?
- What assumptions are we making?
- What could realistically go wrong?
- What would happen if we did nothing?
In many ways, uncertainty has become the new normal.
The businesses that continue to grow aren’t necessarily the ones taking the biggest risks. They’re often the ones that have become most comfortable making decisions without having all the answers.
So, How Do You Know If It’s The Right Time To Expand?
This is probably the question we hear most often.
And the answer is usually less about what’s happening in the economy and more about what’s happening inside your business.
The strongest expansion decisions tend to be driven by clear signals:
- Customers asking for support in new markets
- Talent becoming difficult to access locally
- Competitors gaining ground internationally
- Increasing demand from overseas prospects
- A product or service that’s proving itself repeatedly in existing markets
Those signals don’t suddenly disappear because the news cycle becomes more dramatic. If anything, uncertainty can sometimes make them easier to spot.
We’ve worked with businesses that delayed expansion waiting for more certainty, only to discover six months later that the opportunity had moved on.
That’s not to say every company should be rushing into a new market. Far from it. But waiting isn’t always the low-risk option founders assume it is.
What We’re Seeing At Strive Consultants
Earlier this year, headlines around regional tensions led many businesses to question whether the UAE would remain as attractive a place to expand. It was a fair question at the time.
Now, several months on, we’re able to look beyond the headlines and ask a more useful one: has there actually been a lasting impact?
From what we’re seeing at Strive Consultants, the answer is largely no.
While some businesses briefly reassessed their timelines, very few abandoned their expansion plans altogether. Instead, founders adapted. Many chose to test the market first by setting up remotely, establishing a UAE company from overseas and pairing it with a remote UAE business bank account or an Electronic Money Institution (EMI). Others took a phased approach to hiring before committing to a full relocation.
The appeal of the UAE hasn’t fundamentally changed. Its business-friendly environment, attractive tax regime and access to international markets continue to make it one of the world’s most compelling destinations for ambitious founders.
If anything, the events earlier this year reinforced the importance of building flexibility into expansion plans rather than waiting for perfect conditions that may never arrive.
The Biggest Mistake? Confusing Headlines With Business Reality
One of the challenges for founders today is the sheer volume of information. Every day there’s another article predicting economic slowdown, warning about geopolitical tensions or forecasting disruption in a particular market. Some of those concerns are absolutely valid, but not all of them are relevant to your business.
A founder looking at expanding into the UAE faces a very different set of opportunities and challenges to a founder entering Europe or the United States. Yet it’s surprisingly common for businesses to make decisions based on broad market sentiment rather than the realities of their own situation.
The most successful founders we work with tend to approach things differently.
Rather than asking:
“What does this headline mean?”
They’re asking:
“What does this actually mean for us?”
That’s a much more useful question.
Because while uncertainty is everywhere, risk is rarely distributed evenly.
The Risks Founders Should Actually Be Thinking About
When people talk about expansion risk, they often jump straight to economic uncertainty when, in reality, the issues that cause the biggest headaches are usually much closer to home.
They’re often operational, commercial or legal challenges that could have been addressed earlier.
Things like:
Assuming Success Automatically Transfers To A New Market
A product that performs brilliantly in one region won’t necessarily behave the same way elsewhere.
Customer expectations, pricing models and buying habits can all differ significantly.
Underestimating Local Regulations
Employment laws. Data protection rules. Tax considerations. Licensing requirements.
Expansion becomes much easier when these issues are built into the plan from the outset rather than discovered halfway through.
Choosing The Wrong Expansion Structure
Not every business needs a local entity on day one. Sometimes an Employer of Record solution, local partner or phased market entry approach makes far more sense.
Growing Faster Than The Infrastructure Around The Business
One of the most common challenges we see isn’t demand. It’s businesses successfully generating growth but struggling to support it operationally.
The foundations matter, the contracts matter, governance matters and internal processes matter.
They’re not always the most exciting part of expansion, but they’re often the difference between sustainable growth and avoidable problems.
When Waiting Becomes The Bigger Risk
Founders spend a lot of time thinking about the risks of action. Less time is spent thinking about the risks of inaction. But what if founders reframed this and asked themselves what the risk od inaction was first? It might help stopping
- Competitors establishing themselves first.
- Customer demand shifting elsewhere.
- Key talent getting hired by someone else.
- Partnership opportunities disappearing.
What We’re Seeing At Founders Law
If you’d judged the UAE purely by the headlines earlier this year, you could have been forgiven for thinking businesses would hit pause.
That wasn’t what we saw.
As Ed Jennings, General Manager of Founders Law UAE, explains:
“The reality on the ground has been far more positive than many expected. We’ve actually had the busiest two months in Founders Law’s history, with more fundraises completing than ever before. Businesses are still investing, deals are still moving and founders are continuing to build.
There was definitely a period of recalibration. Some companies pushed ahead as planned, others paused briefly to reassess, but most simply adapted their approach rather than abandoning their ambitions altogether.
Fundraising was probably the clearest example. We saw some US investors take a more cautious approach, while a number of European and Far Eastern investors accelerated activity and moved quickly to get deals done.
By May and June, it genuinely felt like business as usual again. The tech ecosystems in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have arguably never been busier, with founders, investors, VCs and ecosystem partners coming together at an incredible number of events. Looking ahead, programmes like Hub71 and Dubai Founders HQ are set to return after the summer bigger and more competitive than ever.
Some businesses became more measured around hiring, relocation and international expansion. Rather than relocating an entire team immediately, they tested the market first by sending a founder ahead or using an Employer of Record before making longer term commitments.
But importantly, it was never a stop.
The businesses that used this period to strengthen their legal foundations, tidy up their cap tables, become investor ready and prepare for fundraising are already seeing the benefit. The underlying momentum never disappeared. If anything, those who used uncertainty as an opportunity to prepare will be the businesses best placed to move fastest over the next 12 months.”
Growth Doesn’t Require Certainty
One thing we’ve learned from working with scaling businesses is that certainty is rarely what creates growth. Confidence does and confidence often comes from preparation. The founders making the best expansion decisions today aren’t waiting for the world to become more predictable. They’re building businesses that can adapt regardless of what happens next.
And let’s be honest, this is vital. Because in 2026, waiting for certainty might mean waiting forever.
