Building a business abroad comes with a lot of moving parts: visas, licensing, choosing the right free zone, setting up bank accounts, funding, and compliance... the list goes on.
But one challenge that doesn’t get talked about enough—especially in entrepreneurial circles—is what it really takes to balance business and family life in a new country.
If you’re relocating with children, there’s one question you need to ask early on:
What will school cost me—financially and otherwise?
Watch the full breakdown in this video:
In Dubai, school fees are a huge consideration. Not just because they’re expensive (they are), but because they compound quickly if you have more than one child.
Whether you’re enrolling a toddler in nursery or a teen in IB, the cost can feel like a second mortgage. And if you're in the early stages of building your business, this expense can seriously impact your cash flow.
A lot of people don’t factor this in when they make the leap abroad. They plan for their business setup, their visa, maybe even housing—but forget that education in Dubai is private, competitive, and varies dramatically in both cost and quality.
When you're launching a new venture, every dirham matters. You’re investing in your business, your network, your marketing—and all of that takes time to produce ROI.
Meanwhile, tuition fees here are due up front, and they’re not small. Many top-rated schools charge between AED 50,000 to AED 90,000 per year—per child. And that doesn’t include transport, uniforms, or annual re-enrollment fees.
If you have two or three children, you’re easily looking at six figures in school fees annually. That can feel overwhelming when your business is still scaling—or if you're bootstrapping.
And yet, this is real life for many of us who have made this leap. Myself included.
If you’re thinking about relocating to Dubai as an entrepreneur, you need to treat school fees like any other major business expense. Here are a few things to consider:
In my latest YouTube video, I walk through Dubai school fees by age, curriculum type, KHDA ratings, and all the small things most families forget to budget for. I also share how I’ve approached school decisions with my own four kids while building a business—and why flexibility is sometimes your biggest asset.
Watch the full video here:
Dubai School Fees in 2025: What Parents Need to Know
If you're building a life abroad for your family, this is the kind of information that helps you do it on your terms—without regrets, and without surprises.
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