NFIB Local Member Profile: Pete Bitar
Name: Pete Bitar
Business: Anderson Innovation Center, Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems, Air Buoyant, Flying Dune Buggy, PVB Holdings
Location: Anderson, Indiana
Employees: 14
How did you become a small business owner, and why?
There was an opportunity with the military. I started the business with XADS in 2002 and that started with a request for proposals from the Marine Corps for a solution to a non-lethal weapons problem that they had. So we could come up with a design for a non-lethal weapon. And that was basically a wireless taser. …The rest of the businesses were sort of spin-offs. The Anderson Innovation Center was started when we were able to purchase a facility and sort of establish everything under that umbrella.
What do you love the most about running a small business?
The ability to take risks and see the rewards come from those risks. I think that’s the key. It’s not always rewarding in terms of money either. Sometimes it’s just rewarding to be able to accomplish something you set out to do.
What advice would you give small business owners?
Innovate. Keep innovating and innovate your way out of trouble. Don’t settle for the way things are today. Keep reanalyzing your model. Keep reanalyzing your product. Keep finding ways to improve, both what you do and how you do it. Keep looking for opportunities to network and all of that under the umbrella of innovation. The other piece of advice is to live with integrity because it will come back to you.
How do you define success?
Finding success is being paid well to solve a problem that you uniquely can solve. That to me is success.
Why did you join NFIB?
Well, I think because of the impact that they have on state and federal laws, and how those affect small business. In terms of bang for the buck, NFIB does more than anybody else in that space, and that space really does affect us directly. And I think the things that do affect all small business. But they do it in such a way that based on what I’ve seen, they’re probably one of the most effective organizations at making those changes or at least making those stands in order to make change ultimately. And their vision aligns with mine, frankly.
