The Unanticipated Challenges Facing Small-Business Owners in the UAE

Aims: The purpose of this research paper is to explore the most critical unanticipated challenges facing business people in the UAE and to explore ideas and strategies to overcome these problems.

Study Design: Semi-structured interview.

Place and Duration: UAE business organizations, between October 24th and November 5th 2013.

Methodology: The population was drawn from 870 organizations listed in the Etisalat Yellow Pages. A random sampling procedure was used to select 200 organizations from different types of industries. The respondents for this study comprised of 50 CEOs or owners, with a 25 percent response rate. The candidates who were contacted and responded to participate were from different industries and nationalities.

Results: Losing business to competitors was cited as the most important unanticipated challenge by 24% of respondents. The second most critical challenge is implicit overhead expenses, noted by 18% of participants. The third unanticipated challenge, mentioned by 14% of participants, was high employee turnover rate.

Conclusion: The paper provides rational remedies for a proposal to consider the unanticipated challenges facing entrepreneurs and implications of economic development in the UAE.