Software Business in the Middle East

I arrived to Dubai on January 18, 2006. There was no ticket available directly from home, so I flew from St. Petersburg on a charter flight.

During the flight I finally understood clearly what I was about to make. To be honest, I got scared. I quit my job, I just got married and the whole adventure seemed to be the most stupid decision in my life. Fortunately, I was at the aircraft at that time and I had no way back, at least until we land.

It was -26 C in St. Petersburg when I left and +25 C in Dubai when I arrived. It was pretty funny when I found myself in the middle of the summer worn in winter shoes and having winter jacket in my hands. I had a hotel reserved for couple weeks before I get a company license, working permit and be able to move to the apartments.

One of my partners had a good friend in Dubai who really helped me a lot in the beginning. He found a very nice apartment for me close to the centre. The location of the apartment was very good as I did not have a car at that time, and public transportation in Dubai is not yet very well developed, so I needed to use taxi. Although the apartment was pretty expensive even comparing to Sweden, I guess I had saved pretty much money on taxi just because I lived in one of the central areas.

So, I had arrived to Dubai with the rough ideas what I was going to do. I was alone in the city, because my other three partners stayed back in Sweden keeping their daily work, just to be able to keep paying their bills and keeping our company running until we get enough work to move them to Dubai too.