Starting a Business

Founders rate their own chances highly, and that confidence is what makes the leap possible. The wish for autonomy is a central motive, and people who work for themselves report higher satisfaction with their work. Because a new business faces uncertainty rather than measurable risk, founders who start from what they have, set a loss they can afford and test early give themselves the best chance.

What the report found

1. The UAE is a country of founders. About 250,000 companies were set up in the UAE in 2025, taking the total to about 1.4 million, with a national goal of 2 million. Since June 2021, foreign investors can own mainland companies in full, and entrepreneurs can apply for a golden visa.
2. Confidence opens the door. Founders rate their own chances highly, and in laboratory markets more people entered when success depended on their own skill. Confidence is what makes the leap possible; moderate optimism is linked to the best outcomes.
3. Freedom is part of the reward. Studies of working people find that those who work for themselves are more satisfied with their work, whatever their income or hours, and that the sense of autonomy explains much of the gain.
4. The first months reward testing over forecasting. A new business faces uncertainty, where the odds cannot yet be known. Expert founders start from what they have, set a loss they can afford and adjust as they learn, and a review of 9,897 ventures linked these habits to better performance.
5. Experience compounds. In the United States, the founders of the fastest growing new firms were on average 45 at founding, and people who built a business alongside a job before going full time survived longer. Every venture teaches lessons that carry into the next.

What is inside

1. The moment
2. Before: deciding to leap
3. During: the first months
4. The decisions that shift
5. How the moment is lived across the Gulf
6. What lasts

Plus a phase map of the moment, an illustrated first hundred days of a new business and a data panel of UAE and Gulf figures.

Who it is for

For people thinking of starting a business and their families, and for funders, programmes, banks and employers in the UAE and the Gulf.

How we work

Moment Reports look at how people think and decide at particular points in the year or in life, starting with the UAE and then the wider Gulf. Every claim is graded Established, Emerging or Untested, and where researchers disagree, both sides are set out before we say where we stand.

Cite this report

The Why We Project (2026) Starting a Business: The leap into working for yourself. Moment Report No. 03. Dubai: Why We Tech Ltd. Available at: thewhyweproject.com