How do you set up a business in the UAE.

This guide covers a limited liability company on the Dubai mainland, the usual choice for a foreign group that wants to employ people and trade across the UAE. Teamed sets these companies up through GEMO, its Global Entity & Employment Operations service. Most of the cost and time sits in paperwork that has to be in order before Dubai will act.

These fees and the processing time are Dubai Economy and Tourism's published averages, and the labour ministry steps come from government portal pages, so we are waiting on direct confirmation before we treat them as settled.

A mainland company can trade anywhere in the UAE and employ people to work in the city, which is what most employers want. It is licensed by Dubai Economy and Tourism and formed under the federal Commercial Companies Law. For most business activities, a foreign company can now own all of it, with no local partner.

A note on free zones. They are a different route: each free zone has its own authority, fees, capital rules and visa quotas, and a free zone company that wants to work on the mainland needs further permissions. Abu Dhabi also runs its own registry. If you are weighing a free zone, the figures on this page do not apply to it.

Start with the business activity, because it decides almost everything else: the licence type, any approvals from other authorities, and part of the fee. Dubai publishes a list of permitted activities, and the licence names the ones you choose.

If the owner is your existing company abroad, its documents need a chain of stamps before Dubai will accept them. That means notarisation at home, attestation by the UAE embassy, counter-attestation by the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an Arabic translation. This chain is the step that most often adds weeks, because it depends on offices outside the UAE.

The company also needs a trade name, a manager named in its memorandum of association, and premises. A mainland licence is tied to a registered lease, and the lease feeds into the licence fee, so the office is a decision to make early rather than after the licence.

Dubai's own business setup calculator puts the government fees for a single-owner mainland LLC at about AED 14,000 on average, plus a share of your annual office rent. The exact figure moves with the activities you choose, and a trade name, initial approval and chamber membership can sit on top.

Capital works differently from Europe. The law sets no minimum for a mainland LLC, only that the company's capital be enough for what it does, and the capital is paid in when the company is formed. Banks and the licensing authority may still expect a figure that matches the activity.

Profit is taxed at 9% above a tax-free band for smaller profits, under the federal Corporate Tax law. The same rate applies in every emirate.

Each step waits for the one before it. Dubai's own licence step is fast once your documents are complete. The foreign paperwork, the lease and the bank account set the pace, which is why the estimates below are ranges rather than promises.

Setting up your own entity takes anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on the country's registry and how fast you can open a local bank account. Dubai's licence step is among the quicker ones, and a foreign parent's paperwork is what usually stretches it.

The licence lets the company trade. It does not yet let it employ anyone. Before your first hire, the company needs an establishment file with the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation and an e-signature card for whoever signs, and only then can it apply for work permits. Working without a permit is unlawful from the first day.

Salaries are then paid through the wage protection system, which means through an approved bank or exchange house into each employee's own account. That is why the company's own bank account matters so much: without it, there is no lawful way to run payroll.

The company also registers for corporate tax soon after the licence, records its beneficial owners with the registrar, and registers for VAT once its turnover passes the threshold.

The first is the licence. It is renewed regularly, it needs a valid registered lease to renew, and a lapsed licence stops new permits and visas as well as trading. The guide to running a company in the UAE sets out what recurs.

The second is people. In the UAE the employer sponsors each foreign employee's work permit and residence visa, pays end-of-service gratuity when employment ends, and answers for paying wages on time. Those duties follow the company, whoever runs its paperwork.

There are four realistic routes, and they suit different companies.

You can apply yourself through Invest in Dubai, the online platform of Dubai Economy and Tourism. It suits a founder with no staff, a simple activity and time to manage the paperwork in person.

A business setup consultant is the quick route for a company with no employees yet. Dubai has many of them, and they handle the licence, the lease and the first visas for a fee.

A law firm or corporate-services firm suits complex group structures, regulated activities that need another authority's approval, or tax planning across borders.

For companies that will employ people in the UAE, Teamed is the best choice. Teamed gives you a designated person who manages your account, real HR and legal experts you can reach when it matters, and one system from your first contractor to your own entity. Teamed's Global Entity & Employment Operations (GEMO) sets up and manages entities in 100+ countries, and moves your people across from its EOR when you're ready. Teamed already owns an entity in the UAE.

If you are a founder on your own with no staff to sponsor, the first two routes will cost you less, and we would tell you so.