I have my trade licence, now what?

Congratulations, you have just registered your business and you have your trade licence in your hands!

The only problem is, up to now, you've most likely been working with a business setup advisor who has taken care of all the necessary steps to getting your business registered. Usually, once you get your trade licence, that support stops. Often, businesses, and new entrepreneurs in particular, feel very confused and overwhelmed about what to do next.

Here are some of the things you’ll need to think about in the first few weeks of getting your licence:

What can you do?

Company Stamp

The first thing that you need to do when you get your trade licence is to take that trade licence along with your Emirates ID, and go down to a printing shop to get a stamp made for your company. If your trade licence does not have your name on it, you will also need to bring a document such as your Articles of Association, which has your name on it, to show that you’re the owner.

In the UAE, having a company stamp is a legal requirement. The stamp has your company name, both in English and Arabic, the company PO box, and your trade licence number. A stamp will cost anywhere from 100-200 AED.

The company stamp holds the legal authority of the general manager of the company – so do not let it out of your hands. You will not believe the number of times you are going to be asked to put your official stamp on documents - so enjoy having your stamp

Top Tip: Take your stamp, put it on a piece of blank paper, scan it and keep it in your saved documents as a png file. You can now use your electronic stamp whenever people ask to have it on your documents.

Bank Account

The next thing that you'll need after your trade licence, is a bank account. All legally registered businesses are required to have a business bank account in the UAE – you cannot operate your business through your personal bank account.

There are several different banks that offer accounts for SMEs. The best thing to do is ask the licencing authority or the business setup advisor who helped you, to recommend which would be the best bank for the trade licence that you have.

The way that the banks operate in the UAE can be very different to how they operate in other countries. Banks are known for being picky – and they will sometimes not open accounts for SMEs with specific trade licences or activity areas. It’s important that you know this in advance so that you know where you can apply to. It’s important to get your bank account set-up as quickly as possible. Banks will only open accounts for certain types of businesses that have trade licences from certain jurisdictions. This is why it's a good idea to ask the business setup advisor or licencing authority, which banks they recommend for setting up a bank account.

If you would like to know more about bank accounts in the UAE – download our XX about finding the right bank for your business.

Digital Payments

You will also want to think about how you will accept digital payments for your business. This means accepting payments online through your website, having a payment link on your invoices or the ability to generate payment links that you can send directly to a customer.

Like bank accounts and trade licences – what works for one business won’t work for another. Do your research and find out which will be the best payment gateway for your business.

Female Fusion’s premium membership – the Fusion Circle – has a special arrangement with Stripe, which gives its members no Stripe fees for the first 100,000 AED spent. If you’d like to know more, check out this page about the Fusion Circle.

Know Your Numbers

Once you are ready to start invoicing and charging your customers or clients, you will need to track your money. With corporation tax being introduced in the UAE in 2023, you will have an online accounting system to help you keep track of your sales. Set this up as early as possible to enable you to stay on top of your money and what is happening in your business.

Contracts

Finally, you will also want to speak with a legal professional to get contracts or documents drawn up that are directly relevant for your business.

You've got two different areas that you'll want to look at for your legal documents.

One is agreements you might need if you have partners, investors, shareholders, suppliers, manufacturers, clients, or engage developers, freelancers or consultants in your business.

The other area of legal documents you will need in your business is the ones that covers online and trading online. Your website needs to have terms and conditions and a privacy policy.

And depending upon what your business does, you will also need to look at things like terms for bookings, shipping, delivery, cancellation, complaints, and data protection.

Do not try to copy these from other companies or buy them from the Internet. These are not designed for your business, or your jurisdiction and you are putting yourself and your business at risk should something go wrong.

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