By Bill Anderson, FCCA, Chief Executive Officer, Assetica — 2026-06-10
Drawing on experience across 500+ valuations, these are the five mistakes that most reliably cost UAE owners money: valuing revenue instead of earnings, ignoring owner dependence, dirty books, the wrong purpose, and waiting too long.
The most common opening error: assuming turnover implies value. Buyers pay for earnings and the risk around them, not revenue. A high-revenue business with thin margins, an unpaid owner and one dominant client can be worth less than a much smaller business with contracted income and a manager running it. Owners anchored to revenue-based numbers reject good offers and hold on too long.
Owner dependence is a discount in waiting: by the time a buyer tests who the clients call, it is too late to fix, costing a lower multiple plus earn-outs. Unverifiable books destroy value twice: the buyer rebuilds earnings downwards, then applies a lower multiple to the rebuilt figure. Since UAE corporate tax, an audit is the cheapest multiple improvement available.
A valuation is built around its purpose: an insurance figure is not a sale price, a bank collateral assessment is not a buyout value, and an online calculator output is not a GDRFA-accepted Golden Visa valuation. The most expensive mistake is timing: learning your defensible value only when an offer arrives leaves no time to fix anything. The owners who do best track value annually and fix suppressors years ahead.
What is the most common business valuation mistake?
Anchoring on revenue. Buyers pay for normalised earnings and the risk around them, not turnover. Owners fixated on revenue-based numbers reject reasonable offers and negotiate against themselves.
Can I use one valuation report for any purpose?
No. A valuation is built around its purpose. Insurance, bank collateral, partner buyouts, tax, disputes and Golden Visa applications each have different requirements, and using a report prepared for one purpose in another commonly causes rejection or delay.
When should I get my business valued?
Before you need the number. An annual rough check plus an independent baseline valuation two to three years before any likely sale, dispute or application gives time to fix the issues that suppress value, while they are still cheap to fix.