We had the good fortune of connecting with Bikram Mishra and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bikram, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I was starting in college, society was at the forefront of the internet revolution, the dot com era. I was going to college for business, and I was learning about trends and opportunities, cycles and product launches. The more research I did, and the more papers I wrote, the more I realized that those things were happening right before my eyes! And THE best part was that it did not cost much to have an international presence. This freedom to connect empowered the start of my first two businesses, an entertainment company, and a marketing company. All these new businesses with websites still needed marketing, and marketing involves entertaining.

I had also learned about risk, and particularly, business risk. One of the biggest risks to starting your own business, is the financial risk. The only real risk I saw to starting a business was angering my parents, they really wanted those degrees, and they felt it would be risky for me to pursue them later in life.

Last, I learned about opportunity cost. And, as I saw the money going out the door for my college degree, I couldn’t help but compare those costs to the costs of starting a business at home in my boxer shorts, not to mention the comfortability of my workspace. Specially, considering I was paying for many things I already knew…you see, I had “businesses” when I was a child, in fact, we had THE coldest drinks and cleanest golf balls at our lil backyard stand on the hole after the lake. The lake from where we dug out the balls after a long, hot day on the course. The course that was on the edge of the impoverished parts of Aurora, Colorado in the 80’s. Price sensitive golfers buy the lower priced goods, and when you are a little kid, it helps the sales process.

So, weighing all my options I dropped out, then got a job, started my first two businesses with my income, and later returned to university for a total of 4 degrees, most from Adams State University here in Alamosa, Colorado where I am now also an adjunct business professor.

Thank you for reading,
Bikram Mishra, MBA

What should our readers know about your business?
What you are most proud of or excited about?
I am most proud of the profound challenges we have overcome in 20 years of business. We have had to navigate them all, and every cycle since 2004, business, political, economic, social, technological, etc. has had a largely negative impact, and even almost wiped us out of existence. It is a good thing we are scientists, and it is a good thing we kept tinkering in the labs. I am most excited about the next phase of our organizational evolution, as this is the phase where it has all clicked.

How did you get to where you are today business-wise?
This is a long one, and it starts one day when I was 8 years old and standing on the streets of a town in India. I learned that day that in this world, transactions are necessary, and how you transact marks your character. I decided that any transactions I engaged in had to be for the better good of those around me, there needed to be a higher cause than just making money and paying bills. Business is the vehicle of transactions, transactions that yield resources, and the better I am at transacting with good character to obtain resources, the more I can help others. The industries I chose to transact in where a natural extension of my connections, likes, and skills at the time.

Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges?
Absolutely not!!!! Persistence is a…well, it is very key. Also, knowing the risks, and setting boundaries that I would not cross when things got bad have been the two decision trees I have operated from. I made sure to really think about the risks, not the rewards, but the risks. One boundary, therefore, was that I never allowed myself to get financially overextended and overextended meant that if I could not get a decent job and pay it back in a year or two, it was too much for me to take on.

What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way.
Persistence, matched with character and awareness, are the most important keys for me in any business, no matter the industry. If I am not persistent, no one else will be. If I do not bring value to customers, or I do but my practices of delivering that value lack integrity, then no one will come back. And, if I am not aware of my surroundings, and honest with myself about the reality of those surroundings then, at any given point, I am lacking crucial information that could have helped me to avoid a huge mistake, or even a dumb little decision.

What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
We are here to help YOU evolve your business and your life. In our laboratories, every member of our team has struggled, lost much, and fought to rebuild and evolve. We have done much personal trial and error with solutions, and we have found the keys that helped each of us to grow. Here at Evolution Laboratories, LLC, EvoLabs, we want to help you transact at the highest level you are capable of, and we are here to walk with you through the microevolutions to get there.

Thank You,
Bikram Mishra, MBA

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Sunday – Flight lands, we stop at the Gaylord for food and then head to the DTC for rest.
Monday – We are going South I-25 to Castle Rock, maybe even all the way to Bishops Castle, returning on HWY285. Stopping all along the way for the sights and food.
Tuesday – Going to the mountains, depending on the time of year, we will get into snow or summer sports.
Wednesday – We ended up staying with some friends in Vail. And now Glenwood Springs and Aspen are in reach. Got to go the hot springs.
Thursday – Well it was hump day in Aspen, the nightlife was too much to pass up, and so was a night at Hotel Jerome. Brunch at the W, and then road trip the back way from Aspen. We came into Denver just as the Drum and Bass clubs were turning up, so we decided to pop in for some breakdancing and pop locking.
Friday – Completely beat up from what they call break…dancing, and one day left on the tour, we go out to Golden, Morrison, and the beautiful Red Rocks. Dinner at The Fort was the only way to end this adventure.
Saturday – Goodbyes are always hard, so my friend’s flight was later in the day. We took our time getting to the airport; opting to try to get stuck in traffic to miss the flight, we went into the city for a look at it during the day. After seeing all the great monuments, buildings, parks (yes, we hit the skatepark too, of course) and stores around Civic Center, alas, we had to head out to DIA. After high fives and foot bumps, I left my friend to travel through the dark to the other side of the planet.

It was so fun =)!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Yes,

This is the best, I want to give a shoutout to our American infrastructure. It has enabled my father, and most of his family to legally come here from India, get educated, see a career path and pursue it. It then enabled him to see needs that only he can address here in this nation with water treatment and start his own engineering firm to address them. This in turn empowered him to raise a family, and that included employing the family and teaching each of them about business at a young age.

This same system enabled my mother to claw her way out of impoverished areas, go to college, get a great education in nursing, have a career in nursing, then switch to business management midlife to run the company with my father, and definitely run my brother and I…the little nuts that we were.

Finally, this same system is the system that provided the backbone for me to recover for my very big business and personal mistakes in this life.

Without this system, and each and every one of you who get up and make it happen day in and night out, then I would not be where I am, and neither would most people reading this.

And of course, God, my parents, family, friends, and goldfish named Golden…jk, I do not have a fish =)!

Thank You,
Bikram Mishra, MBA

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Evolution Laboratories, LLC

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