Investor FAQ

• Opening a bar is expensive, so we need people to bring the money we need to make this happen! These lovely people are our investors. If you want to become an investor because you want to bring a cooperatively owned Lesbian bar to Minneapolis for Lesbians and Queer people to gather, dance, and feel safe in, investment starts at $500, but you can always invest as much as you’d like. Because we are a cooperative, a group of people who own and democratically run the space, and do not want anyone to have more say because they brought in more money, we require each investor to also be a member who only gets one vote in the co-op. This way, a member who is not an investor has one vote, and a member who is an investor also only has one vote, no matter how much money they bring in. Members own part of the co-op and participate in shaping the co-ops events, merch, and who is on the board. To become a member, you can sign up online through our website. Members enjoy perks like the ability to vote on important decisions such as events, merch, and board members. However, some people might want to invest without being a voting member because they either don’t want a recurring membership charge or do not want to participate in the group decision making, which is okay, you will just add $25 of a non-voting membership share to your investment to make you legally eligible to become an investor. Shares show who owns what piece of the pie. You can invest by reaching out to us at invest@TheBrassStrap.com for more information.

Eligible investors are people who have membership shares and want to invest $500 or more in addition to their membership dues. Investors can also purchase 1 membership share without buying a recurring, voting membership if they do not want to vote or participate as a member in the co-op.

• Shares are ways we measure ownership in the co-op. Each business has shares. If a traditional bar is owned by one person and they brought all the money they needed to make it happen, they own all of the shares of their business. For our co-op, we have multiple types of shares depending on the person’s role in the co-op. 

• Stock refers to the bucket that holds types of shares. Different stock types have different responsibilities and benefits. 

  • Customers and Workers are both share types within the larger stock bucket called “Common Stock.” They are grouped together because they each invest their time or money into the co-op and will get money back based on what they put in when the co-op is profitable. 

  • Investors have their own bucket called “Preferred Stock” because they put money into the co-op with the promise that they will get a return on their investment. When profitable, our investors will get anywhere from 5-8% in dividends. Dividends are payouts to investors that are paid out based on how much money that investor put in.

  • There is a final stock bucket called “Owner Stock” which is not open to the public and is reserved for the two people who have put their names on the liquor license. This is to keep the County from doing background checks on every single member of the co-op and ensure any decision made by the co-op is approved by one of these two people so we never put our liquor license at risk.

• Customer owners are like your traditional grocery store co-op owners. Anyone can buy a membership because they like shopping there, and in return for your support of the co-op, you get certain perks. Check out our customer membership perks here.

• Worker owners are employees who want to own part of the place that they work at. These are workers who see this co-op being a place where they will work for a long time and want to have more of a say in what goes on in their workplace. Workers have the majority of spaces on the Board at The Brass Strap and therefore have more control over their workplace. 

• Investors bring their money to help us get open and stay open! They do not have voting rights but can get those rights by signing up as a customer owner. 

• There is one more

Someone might not have any interest in the day-to-day operations of the co-op or might not want to take up space in membership. For instance, some investors might not want a recurring payment to remember, or others might not be a part of our community but want to support us without wanting to influence how we run our co-op. Every investor is encouraged to become a voting member regardless of identity or community affiliation, but we make this an option just in case!

A co-op is a democratically run organization that is owned by the people who work in it and spend their money at it. The money and time invested in the co-op by owners benefit the co-op by making sure we are financially stable enough to be around for years to come. When we are profitable, owners will get some of that money back, rather than that profit staying in the hands of one owner like a traditional business.

Members vote on which members are elected to the board, what kinds of events they want to see, what merch we put out, and generally what they want to see from the space they own. This makes sure that the community is seeing what they want to see and can bring a wide range of ideas to the space that a traditional business might not care about or make space for. Members get to influence the space beyond leaving a yelp review and hoping the owner cares!

Board members take care of the big decisions that have to be made to keep the co-op operational and in compliance with all relevant regulations. Board members make large financial decisions to protect the best interests of the co-op. Board members guide the vision of the co-op and integrate member input. Board members create channels in which members can meaningfully participate in the co-op. Ultimately, Board members make sure the co-op is sustainable and operational for generations to come.