Shopfronts on a busy street in Dubai, the kind of location a feasibility study should check before a lease is signed

What a Feasibility Study in Dubai Should Cover Before You Sign a Lease

Harif JusaimAssociate Consultant · 2 November 2026 · 6 min read

In short

Do the feasibility study before you sign the lease, not after. The lease is usually the biggest commitment you make.
A useful study answers seven questions: who will buy, where, at what price, what it costs to open, what it costs to run, when you break even, and what happens if sales come in lower.
Count every cost of opening, not only rent and fit-out. Deposits, approvals, staff before opening and the first months of losses add up fast.
Build three cases: expected, slower and bad. Sign only if you can survive the bad one.
A study that only says “yes” is a sales document. A good one also tells you when to walk away.

Most new businesses in Dubai do not fail because the idea was bad. They fail because the numbers were never checked properly before the money was committed.

The usual order goes like this: someone finds a shop that looks perfect, the landlord wants an answer by Thursday, the lease gets signed, and the business plan is written afterwards to justify a decision already made.

A feasibility study turns that order around. It is the work you do before the lease, so the lease becomes a decision you can defend with numbers. Here is what it should cover.

1. The market: who will actually buy

Start with the customer, not the product. Who are they, where do they live or work, how often will they buy, and what do they pay today for something similar?

In the UAE this matters more than most places, because the same mall or street can serve very different crowds at different hours. A café near offices may be full at 8am and empty at 8pm. A family restaurant in a residential community may be the opposite.

Do not rely on Google searches or what friends tell you. We wrote about both traps in why Google search is not market research and how to validate a business idea. Visit the area, count people at different times, and talk to the people you expect to sell to.

2. The location: is this the right spot

A busy road is not always a good location. Check visibility, parking, access from both directions, nearby competitors and what the footfall looks like on a weekday afternoon, not only on a Friday evening.

Also check the practical side before you commit: whether the unit can be used for your type of business, what approvals it needs, and how long they usually take. Confirm these with the landlord, the licensing authority and your own adviser, because the rules depend on the activity and the location.

Our article on how to choose a business location has a simple break-even calculator you can use for any shortlisted unit.

3. The full cost of opening

This is where most plans are too optimistic. List every cost before the first customer walks in:

Licence, approvals and registrations
Rent in advance and the security deposit
Fit-out, furniture and equipment
Signage and the first stock
Visas and staff costs before opening, including hiring and training time
Systems: POS, accounting software, CRM
Launch marketing
A reserve for delays, because openings in the UAE often take longer than planned

Then add the cash you need to cover losses during the first months. Many businesses need several months before sales cover running costs.

4. Running costs every month

Separate fixed costs (rent, salaries, service charges, software, insurance) from costs that rise with sales (stock, packaging, delivery app commissions, card fees).

Delivery apps deserve a separate line. For many food businesses in Dubai, the commission on delivery orders changes the margin completely. If half your sales will come through apps, plan with that margin, not your dine-in margin.

5. A realistic sales forecast

Build sales from the bottom up: number of customers per day, multiplied by average bill, multiplied by days open. Then check whether that number makes sense against the footfall you counted and the size of the unit.

A forecast that only works if the shop is full every day is not a forecast. Start with a conservative first year and let it grow.

6. Break-even and payback

Two numbers matter most:

Break-even: the monthly sales you need to cover all running costs.
Payback: how many months of profit it takes to recover what you put in.

If break-even needs sales the location has never shown, or payback runs longer than the lease, that is a warning, not a detail.

7. The downside case

Every study should answer one uncomfortable question: what if sales are 30% lower than expected?

Build three versions: expected, slower and bad. For each, check how long your cash lasts. If the bad case means you run out of money before the business has a fair chance, you either need more capital, a cheaper unit, a smaller format, or a different plan.

This is also the part of the study that tells you when to walk away. A study that never says “no” is not a study.

What a good study gives you

At the end, you should have a clear answer to three questions:

Should we go ahead with this business, in this location, at this rent?
How much money do we really need, including the reserve?
What would make us stop or change the plan?

If you are seeking a bank loan or bringing in partners, the same work becomes the base of your business plan, so it is not wasted effort.

Before you sign

The best time for a feasibility study is when you have a shortlist of units but no signature yet. That gives you room to negotiate the rent, the fit-out grace period and the lease length, using numbers instead of hope.

Our team prepares feasibility studies and business plans in Dubai for new ventures across retail, food and beverage, healthcare, education and services, drawing on 13+ years of work in 30+ industries. If you have a location in mind and want a second opinion before you commit, send us a short note with the idea, the area and the rent you have been quoted.

What our clients say

“We wanted to take Surplus Market into the UAE and needed someone to question our plans before we spent money. That is what BLUE KWET did. The entry plan was practical and told us clearly what to do first.”

Mazin MuhammedFounder, Surplus Market

Service used: Growth and UAE Market Entry Strategy

“I know Ayurveda, but presenting it to investors is a different skill. BLUE KWET prepared our project report and investor presentation with us, and gave us a growth plan that respects what Niramaya stands for.”

Dr. Seetha ChandranFounder, Niramaya Ayurgramam

Service used: Detailed Project Report, Investor Presentation and Growth Plan

“We brought BLUE KWET in on a market feasibility study in Saudi Arabia for one of our government clients. They were careful with the research, clear in how they presented it, and easy to work with throughout.”

CMA AbidFounder, H&T Consulting, UAE

Service used: Market Feasibility Study in Saudi Arabia

“We worked with BLUE KWET on a feasibility study for one of our clients, an education brand. They were thorough with the market and the numbers, and quick to respond whenever we needed changes.”

ShabadDirector, Right Ratios