Help Megabrain Become A Worker-Owned Cooperative!

UPDATE: A lot of people have been asking, “What next?” in the co-op journey. As I mentioned, this fundraiser has been to help us clear as much of our debt as possible.

In order for us to have a smooth transition to being a worker-owned co-op, the business essentially needs to be a clean slate for the new worker-owners.

I have a meeting scheduled for next week with a wonderful Hudson Valley based organization that assists in the transition process and I am very excited to tell them what we were able to accomplish with this fundraiser.

Who will be a part of the co-op?

We are searching for potential worker-owners who would like to be a part of the new chapter of Megabrain Comics life as a cooperative. So if you are someone interested or know someone who may be interested in owning a comic book and game store with a social justice mission, please let us know.

What type of folks would we like to hear from?

We’re looking for people with experience as…

Booksellers, comic book store employees, nerdy folks with small business finance experience, librarians, folks with experience in social justice, community leadership, social media management, tabletop gaming, and people who are comic book creators, nerdy project managers and so many more.

In short, we’re looking for passionate nerds that would like to be a part of building a new and exciting type of comic book store and if that person is you, let us know now.

What did we just use all that money from the first round of donations for?

After borrowing $13K from Vox Funding to help us move from Rhinebeck to Red Hook, we immediately owed them $22K. Thankfully we negotiated that deal with them a couple days ago and with the overwhelming support we got (plus $10K of our own money) from our friends, family, followers and you, we were able to scratch them out of our ledger!

We do still have a number of debts to vendors and a utility company that we need to wipe out as well, including…

$11K to Penguin Random House - We get most of our mainstream comics and graphic novels from them, including Marvel Comics.

$3K to Faire (dot) com - We get a lot of our sideline products from them like stickers, pins, tchochkes, postcards, and prints

$1,500 to Central Hudson - We get our electricity from them

…all of which followed us from our old location to our new one making it extremely difficult to stock new products, keep our inventory fresh and attract new customers.

Essentially we’ve been operating on fumes for the past year, so if there are any folks who see this and want to continue contributing (as many have been doing) to this fundraiser even though we cleared the largest debt with Vox, we will not discourage you from doing so.

That being said, one aspect of our meeting next week will be to ask the co-op org if they can assist us in consolidating the remaining debt in the business. It would streamline the process quite a bit though if we can reduce the amount of help we need to ask them for.

I’ll keep everyone updated as things develop — Thank you again for all your support during unprecedentedly dark and strange times.

Megabrain Comics began as a tiny boutique shop in Rhinebeck and is now a multi-purpose gaming and work space in the heart of Red Hook. To celebrate our growth and changes over the past seven years, and to continue our mission of supporting historically underrepresented communities, we are planning on converting from a privately-owned comic book shop to a worker-owned cooperative!

What is a worker-owned cooperative?

A worker cooperative (co-op) is a values-driven business that puts worker and community benefit at the core of its purpose.

They are businesses owned and run by the people who work in them, also referred to as members or worker-owners and they operate for the benefit of those members and the surrounding community.

Worker cooperatives empower employees by giving them direct ownership and control over their workplace, something that can be especially valuable for historically underrepresented workers. Decisions are made through a democratic process where all worker-owners have a say within the structure of a board of directors.

Cooperatives are a great way to bring democracy into the workplace. They can be built from scratch, but they can also be created by converting existing businesses into worker-owned cooperatives. For retiring business owners or entrepreneurs, selling a business to employees is a way to strengthen the business while getting a return on investment.

Some great examples of other worker-owned cooperatives include Red Emma’s Bookstore in Baltimore, MD, Alvarado St. Bakery in Petaluma, CA, and The Feminist Press publishing company in NYC and we want to follow on the path they’ve set!

What does this GoFundMe support?

We will engage an experienced cooperative transition team that will work with us to ensure a smooth process.

Step 1: Transition Support

Working with a transition team to and steering committee to guide the initial development and formation of a worker cooperative, including outlining decision-making processes.

Step 2: Financial & Business Education

Training and educating employees/the future worker-owners on basic money management & budgeting and banking as well as educating them about basic financial statements.

Step 3: Documentation

One of the most important steps to ensure a well running operation in the future is documentation of a management plan, a worker-owner handbook and cooperative by-laws. All things that take a lot of time and labor.

Step 4: Hand over the keys!

Once the transition team assists in negotiating a final value and price of the business and the financing is secured, upon approval by the future worker-owners the keys are handed over and the board of directors is elected.

Step 5: Transition Support 2.0

Once the worker co-op has been launched, it’s important to have regular check-ins about the business and to maintain clear and open communication. The structures put in place are not only for current employees but for future employees as well. You want to make sure there are processes in place for training those employees in what it means to be a cooperative and lay out plans for growth. All of this requires ongoing training and monitoring.

So why are we fundraising?

We want to start this move with a clean slate! Our fundraiser will help:

Any help you may be able to offer in getting us to our goal would be very much appreciated by not only us, but also by the many friends, neighbors and families that depend on our shop as their third space and safe space.

Thank you,

Jean Michel

Owner (For now), Megabrain Comics

New York's Only Black-Owned Comic Book Store