Meet Abdulla Najem, the CEO and Co-founder of Waterwa, which offers a variety of brands of beverages and water to be delivered to customers’ doorstep. Available on both iOS and Android platforms, the Waterwa app helps its clients to subscribe for weekly or monthly deliveries to their homes and offices.
Since his childhood, Abdulla was fascinated by the whole idea of starting his own company, which eventually pushed him to start network marketing at the age of 17. In a world still apprehensive of the internet’s power, people were surprised to see a young entrepreneur taking a route that was so out of the box. Later, Abdulla joined a college of business, where he fell in love with business once again and started his first startup with a friend.
Soon, they entered the world of media as a powerful force, and the humble agency eventually proliferated. However, Abdulla then transitioned into a corporate career, where he realized how a big scale company works. He started working with RedBull and then with a locally successful co-working space. Later he moved to start working for an incubator in order to stay close to the start-up world, where he learned every detail about starting a company, which eventually led to the creation of Waterwa.
Catering to a Demanding Market
Abdulla knows that the current market is very demanding and constantly changing. He says, “You need to keep an eye on what happens around you, so one of the things that keep us on track is to focus on the audience’s perspective.”
The human aspect of his organization’s strategy also helps him to understand better what drives the market and creates a new trend. Abdulla believes growing and standing out in a competitive market can be challenging, so following the already proven trends can be an effective tool.
As the Co-founder of his company, Abdulla now believes building a formidable team that led the company in its legacy journey is one of his most significant accomplishments. He takes pride in developing a team that can tackle any challenge at any point in time collectively and successfully. Also, by being the pioneer of the “drinking water delivery platform,” many of Waterwa’s suppliers successfully created their own e-commerce platform, which is incredibly rewarding for Waterwa.
Abdullah is a passionate businessman with leadership skills capable to create competent teams in different functions. His leadership in Waterwa proves his problem-solving skills and agility to create forward-looking enterprises and potential unicorns. Abdulla’s consistency is what every company strives for in their leadership.
Tackling Failures
Abdulla feels the most significant failure was when he first started Waterwa. He realized that he gave people the benefit of the doubt too often, which is a red flag for productivity. This caused him a lot of time and value that he could have used to grow his company. Now he follows a strategy of “three strikes, you are out.”
This new strategy ensures that Abdulla reaches out to everyone who has reached a second strike and collaborates with them to mitigate the challenge further.
When it comes to success, Abdulla says, “Success is when people recognize the brand you built even by its deconstructed elements, like a letter, a color, or even shape. That kind of potential for legacy pushes me every day to build it with Waterwa.” He also added, “But on a more personal note, success for me is to be able to be a serial entrepreneur that builds up multiple different brands that truly benefit consumer needs.”
Preparing for the Future
Abdulla explains that Waterwa is well on its way to building a legacy. As businesses depend on the constantly changing market, the team is razor-focused on making a brand that can stand the test of time and stay relatable in the market for a long time.
Abdulla and his team at Waterwa are building a brand that customers can depend on and feel genuine loyalty.
A Supportive Leader
Waterwa’s employees and clients love Abdulla for his authoritative and coaching style leadership.
They say, “You motivate us and give us the direction that helps us develop and utilize our abilities more to achieve not just our full potential but also work/company goals.” – Project manager of Waterwa.
“Every project I worked on with Abdulla, he made sure to give it his full support and attention. His teamwork is always inspiring, and he knows that he only works without ego and with a collaborative mindset. Working with Abdulla Najem is easy because he knows how to juggle all the tiny details while still being diligent of the bigger picture.” – Deena AlSaweer – founder of Dpro.
“Abdulla Najem has always been great at developing the needed structure and direction no matter what his role was. He creates a culture of mutual trust and care by always acting with integrity, accountability, and transparency.” Robetra Dsouza – Head of Country Logistics of TExpress – Talabat