Anyone who started a small business on the mainland instead of a free zone??

Hi. I'm an office worker in my 40s with a kid in middle school. I've been working in Dubai and I'm weighing whether to wind down a small business or start a new one before I head back to Korea. I got quotes from two places and the gap is pretty big, which is confusing, and I'm also worried about whether I can wrap it up before I go home. For those who actually went through it with a mainland license or a free zone, I'd like to hear about the prep, a realistic sense of what it cost, and how long it took.