Ahmed Ben Chaibeh, CEO and founder of Aquafun: Each week, My Morning Routine looks at how a successful member of the community starts their day — and then throws in a couple of random business questions just for fun. Speaking to us this week is Ahmed Ben Chaibah (LinkedIn), CEO and founder of Aquafun. Edited excerpts from our conversation:

I am Ahmed Ben Chaibah, CEO and founder of Aquafun, the world's largest inflatable water park. We have a Guinness record for that. I was named Entrepreneur of the year, Emirati business of the year, and CEO of the year, among other awards.

I created, produced, and currently operate Aquafun’s concept. I have a very strong team under me now that helps operate Aquafun day by day, handle all the small details, and help grow the business.

The origin story of why I founded Aquafun started with me at the beach. I overheard parents around me saying how they wish they could have something for their kids to do so they can have some peace. I asked myself, what type of activity can help kids have fun while giving the parents peace of mind? After doing some research, we began to work on several ideas to create a unique concept — and that’s how Aquafun started.

What distinguishes the park industry is the visual and emotional aspect. I realized early on that I’m in the business of creating happy memories. When we shoot content for Aquafun, it’s all based on depicting people’s emotions, having fun and enjoying themselves, not taking life too seriously.

As for the business angle, we’ve started using the water park as a billboard. We have redesigned the waterpark to spell any word, and now it can spell out up to 16 letters. We do personal gifts, marriage proposals, etc, but we also work with brands. This is the direction we are working on right now.

Our client group is very diverse. We get clients from six years old all the way to 85. We are a tourist location, so 89% of our customers are tourists and tour operators. We also get a lot of birthdays and corporate events — just people who want to have fun.

I don’t have a strict morning routine, because every day is different. Sometimes, I wake up at 9am, sometimes 10 or 11. I try to be very mindful, drink water, and relax. I don’t eat until later in the day, and I don’t drink coffee. I’m very focused and calm in the morning, and I like to start with work emails and messages, because usually when I wake up in the morning, I find more than 200 messages sent to me between my WhatsApp, emails and DMs. I usually also dive into meetings right away.

I don’t have a normal workday. Sometimes, I have 90-hour workweeks, while other times, I would have a quiet two weeks when I am traveling. If there's something to be done, it will be done, and if there’s nothing to be done, that’s fine too. I’m not scared of that. Last week, I did three or four days of 18 hours of work everyday.

Walking on the beach is my favorite thing to do everyday, as well as taking a bath [laughs]. I don’t have a constant pattern or habit that I start my day with, but I try my best every day to ground myself and walk on the beach.

Discipline is the key to staying focused. You can't be inspired all the time. I wrote to myself a motto when I was 17 at the beginning of my journey: “Train your mind harder than your body. Never accept someone's intimidations. Aim is essential. Visualize what you want all the time.” This is the framework of how I operate until now.

My professional goal for this year is to get four more Guinness records, scale up the business 700% and receive another six or eight awards.

Work-life balance is a nice thought, but in reality, it does not exist. You can have seasons of focus and seasons of balance. I can have months of focusing on work and months when I decide to take it easy and go traveling. If you want to have a work-life balance, get a normal job, but you can’t expect [an exceptional] kind of lifestyle and these accomplishments by having a normal workday where you work nine hours a day and then sit down and watch TV.

I don’t do things I don’t enjoy, so I am not stressed after work. I can have stressful days, but the key is understanding that I have no control over things that happen. I don't react with emotion anymore — I understand the problem, then I react.

Last time I read a book was over 20 years ago. I love to surround myself with intelligent people whom I can learn from every day. I sit with them and ask a lot of questions. I observe and ask a lot of questions, and that's how I learn.

The best advice of my life was given to me by my cousin. He said to me, whatever takes you a year, could take you a month; whatever takes you a month, make it a week; whatever takes you a week, make it a day; whatever takes a day, do it in an hour. This advice helped me improve my level of focus.

Tags: