Functioning businesses and economic systems rely on networks as their fundamental building block. Such networks link supply and demand along complex chains of production, which include labour and material inputs to production as well as demand for the final product. High variability in arid systems means that the networks which underlie arid business are likely to differ from comparable networks in coastal regions. Using business networks as the case-study, this presentation explores how arid drivers bear influence on network structures, and what unique elements need to be considered when developing design principles for networks in arid systems.