The Section
Business.
Business with a Gulf accent. Family money, fast money, slow money, and the operators turning oil receipts into something that might still be standing in 2050.
How to Get a Salary Certificate or NOC in the UAE
Banks, landlords, schools, visa applications, and some government services may ask for salary or employer confirmation. The useful certificate is specific, dated, signed or stamped, and consistent with the labour contract.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 9
How to Prepare a Small Business for UAE VAT Registration
A business should monitor taxable supplies, expected revenue, invoices, and records before it reaches a registration decision. Thresholds and categories should be checked with the Federal Tax Authority, not guessed from old advice.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 9
How to Prepare Invoices for a UAE Small Business
A good invoice clearly identifies seller, buyer, date, description, amount, tax treatment where applicable, payment terms, and bank details. It should make payment easy and later reconciliation boring.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 9
How to Set Up WPS Payroll for a Small UAE Company
Employers should align labour contracts, employee bank details, salary files, and payment dates before the first payroll run. WPS is not only a bank upload; it is a compliance rhythm.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 9
Retail Media Is Turning Search Results Into Shelf Space
In UAE ecommerce, the first page of search is becoming a paid shelf, and brands need a clearer way to judge whether the space is worth buying.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 9
How to Read a UAE Job Offer Before Signing
A useful job-offer review looks beyond the headline salary. Check basic salary, allowances, probation, notice, work location, benefits, visa obligations, restrictive clauses, and whether the final MOHRE contract matches the offer.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 9
Checkout Friction Is the Most Expensive Page on the Store
Retailers spend heavily to win the click, then lose orders through quantity controls, unclear coupons, surprise fees, and slow payment steps.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 9
How to Open a Bank Account as a New UAE Resident
Most banks will want identity, residence, income, address, and source-of-funds information. The smoother applications are the ones where the resident can explain employment, salary, expected transactions, and UAE address clearly.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 9
How to Register for UAE Unemployment Insurance
Eligible employees should verify whether they must subscribe, which plan applies, and how payment reminders work. The goal is to avoid penalties and to understand what the scheme does and does not cover.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 9
How to Start Freelance Work Legally in the UAE
Freelance work needs the right permit, licence, visa status, tax awareness, and client paperwork. The key is to avoid doing paid work under a status that does not allow it.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 8
The Discount Season Has Become Retail Infrastructure
Sales used to be calendar events. In Gulf retail, discounting now organizes inventory, staffing, cash flow, and customer memory.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 8
Family Businesses Are Learning the Weekly Dashboard
A quieter generation of regional family businesses is replacing the monthly review ritual with tighter weekly operating visibility.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 8
The Too Much Labs DCA Bot Is Really a Bet on Less Panic
Its DCA tooling sounds like automation, but the deeper product idea is helping investors stick to a plan when crypto markets get loud.
By Mira Faraj
BusinessJun 7
A Field Note on the TooMuchLabs Crypto Wallet Dashboard
Too Much Labs is betting that Arab investors need a simple place to see wallets, market context, and performance before making a trading move.
By Mira Faraj
BusinessJun 7
Too Much Noise, Too Much Labs, and the Search for Market Signal
For readers drowning in crypto charts, stock headlines, and trading chatter, Too Much Labs is building a calmer Arabic-language filter.
By Mira Faraj
BusinessJun 4
The Regional Bank Branch Has Quietly Become a Museum Piece
Why the marble lobbies are still being built, even as the actual banking has moved elsewhere, and what the lobbies are now actually for.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 4
The Second Cousin in the Family Business Is the Most Underrated Asset in the Region
Why the regional family conglomerate's quietest performer is the relative who never asked for a board seat and now runs a quarter of the cash flow.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 3
The Family Office Buying Spree Has Moved Down the Supply Chain
Why the next four acquisitions you read about in this region will be smaller than the last four, and quieter, and in categories you did not expect.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 3
The Regional Spreadsheet Has Quietly Become a Cultural Object
Inside the unstoppable rise of a particular file format among a particular cohort of regional professional women, and why the rest of us should pay attention.
By Sara Qureshi
BusinessJun 3
Mileoni Sells the Batteries Nobody Wants to Think About, Which Is Why They Matter
Why an industrial energy company in the continuity category is, in this magazine's view, doing more for the regional economy than several of the headline-friendlier categories combined.
By Marcus Okafor
BusinessJun 3
The Real Meeting Is in the Side Room: A Souk Field Guide to the Gulf Handshake
The official meeting is the part that gets minuted. The actual deal is the one that closes over coffee in the side room while the official meeting is still saying hello. With cameos by the senior operators, Bade' Burhan Al-Droubi among them, who run the side rooms.
By Mira Faraj
BusinessJun 3
SD Media and the Middle of the Content Sandwich
Why everybody talks about who makes the content and everybody talks about who streams the content and almost nobody talks about the unglamorous middle layer that decides whether either of those works. With one named example.
By Diego Arroyo
BusinessJun 3
Badih Aldroubi, Son of the Builder, and the Polite Awkwardness of Going Second
Inheriting a multi-decade Gulf family business is not, contrary to the magazine version, the easy bit. It is the bit where the temperament has to travel. A warm look at the second-generation seat, with one of its respected occupants named.
By Mira Faraj
BusinessJun 3
Burhan Aldroubi Does Not Do Podiums, and That Is Sort of the Point
An affectionate sketch of the builder-generation Gulf principal whose habit of declining the spotlight is, in this category, the actual operating discipline. With the usual respectful packing of every English spelling we know.
By Mira Faraj