Help Save Mana Games Cafe!

Hello! My name is Alma, and I'm the co-owner of Mana Games Cafe in Lincoln, NE.

Bringing Mana Games to Lincoln has been a dream come true for me. Together with my co-owner Sam and management team of Matthew, Drake, and Jaimie, we have spent nearly two years serving the community by providing a community space for all types of gamers. It is everything we hoped it could be, and right now, all that we want to just to keep being able to do it.

It will not shock anyone that is it so expensive to start a new business from the ground up, and very expensive to keep it going long enough to start turning a profit. Our location, while it has been perfect for us, is also extremely costly per month due to the premium downtown location. It has benefited us to be here in so many ways - the foot traffic from Farmer's Markets and game days, the people poking their heads in after getting ice cream and learning about us, and the size of our space has been able to accommodate over 20,000 people over our past two years of operation.

When we opened, we had to buy a lot of used equipment to get started because that was what we could afford. When our major equipment needed repairs all at once, we had no choice but to take out a short-term working capital loan with daily payments to get the work done. I'll be honest that this is not advisable - however, without two full years of financials to show a bank, we don't qualify for a lot of traditional funding. These daily payments are currently killing us, and the total payback amount is extremely high. Due to this, we ended up behind on our rent.

Thankfully, our landlord is working with us on a payment plan while we work to find a more stable funding solution to help us stay afloat. However, if we miss any of these payments, we will lose our lease. In the event that we have to relocate, the likelihood of Mana Games re-opening is very slim. As hard as it is to say that, the money it would cost to build out a new space and pay back the debt from our current space is very probably too high for us to figure out.

It has been the greatest pleasure of my life bringing Mana Games to life for the Lincoln community. I am so grateful for all of our customers, and I hope to continue to operate this business to continue serving all of you.

Thank you,

Alma Cerretta