We were lucky to catch up with Kimberly Behzadi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kimberly, thanks for joining us today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

Independent bookstores live and breathe through community support. You know the saying, #ShopSmall and #ShopIndie.

I think you should always ask your friends to support your business! When you’re first starting out you have to find ways to build a reputation and authority in the area. One way I did this at the start was when friends purchased books from my bookshop or subscription boxes from my book box business, I had them write product reviews. Those aren’t lies, they are paying customers who are helping build a positive reputation for my business, which in turn builds consumer trust.

Bookstores make, believe it or not, a lion’s share of their revenue between Thanksgiving and the end of the year. I encourage my friends to buy their books and goodies through my website. I run a culinary bookstore, so I don’t always have the books someone is seeking. If I don’t have the book they need, there are affiliate programs for booksellers that can also help us, like Bookshop.Org for books or Libro.FM for audiobooks! Even those small affiliate commissions can add up big time!

If your friends can’t help financially, they can still help by spreading awareness, or signal boosting; they can like and engage with your content on social media! They can recommend and refer you. Awareness is often the first step when you’re a new business, so why not have your friends pitch in and help out?

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi, my  name is Kimberly Behzadi and I am the owner and founder of Read It & Eat

Read It & Eat was built off the trend of culinary adventures and curated food experiences that grew during the pandemic, our sold-out Read it and Eat™ boxes are a reflection of consumer trends of the season. From our popular Mexico Box to our Blind Date with a Book (Book & Snack Subscription) on Uncommon Goods, we pride ourselves on delivering new eating experiences and delicious stories. We were included on Book Riot’s list of Best Sips and Snacks (gifts) for Book Lovers

A quarterly subscription is available at $200 per year, or $50 per quarter, (available online), our Read It & Eat Box subscription is perfect for the season and for creating new food memories because this box includes: a story about food (you can choose between non-fiction books (like chef memoirs), foodie romances) or cookbooks (for an additional $15), 3 -5 food items from small businesses (never from Amazon), and a $5 donation to fight hunger.

I spoke with Canvas Rebel in January of 2023, just last year, and so much has changed. After spending time as a pop-up business and launching the Reat It and Eat Book Fair at Seneca One last spring, I am now in one of the incubator spaces inside the new West Side Bazaar on Niagara Street. I have officially opened my store, the Read It & Eat Bookshop, Buffalo’s first culinary bookstore.

When I first heard about this space opening up, I thought, “This is perfect, There are chefs downstairs who can inspire me where I can learn about their cuisine too, so I take inspiration from downstairs and on the top floor here. We actually have a space for the cooking classes going forward.”

We just hosted our first pasta making class this week and also had our first book club meeting.

I’m so proud to see my business grow these past three years!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

The capital conversation around small businesses, especially as a female founder, are not shared enough. Having access to capital is hard and women, especially women of color, are often a marginalized group. My business is almost entirely self-funded. I still maintain a full-time job, a job I jokingly say “Pays the mortgage” while my small business feeds my soul. That said, in the past few years I have been able to earn a few grants that have helped propel my business forward.

In 2022 I was the recipient of a New York State Seed Grant. That funding (around $5k) was used to help hire my first part-time assistant. She’s an amazing help and she handles content creation for social media, marketing, and general admin. She’s also helping at the bookshop.

In 2024, this year, I found out I was a recipient of the Grow America grant that benefits small businesses in Buffalo, NY. That funding is going to be used to help pay down business debt and also continue funding payroll for employees.

I strongly encourage small businesses to reach out to their local colleges in the area and business support groups. I have worked with the small business development center at my local university and they have helped a lot with forecasting and budgeting.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Buffalo loves to support Buffalo. One of the most effective strategies I have for growing my business is simply understanding where my audience is looking for information. Where are they going when they’re searching for new things to do, new food to try, and so on. Who are the voices that stand out in our community?

From there, I try to find partners and collaborators. It can seem daunting, paying for advertising and marketing, when you’re first starting out, but I believe in driving awareness for my business. The time of organic social media growth has long passed. We very much operate in a pay-to-play environment. Do I wish I had a TikTok that went viral? Sure! But I can’t bet the growth of my business on that. Instead, I’m going to invest strategically in growth or awareness campaigns. For example, I worked with a local media group to host a giveaway for two tickets to my pasta making course. I had to pay for their service and also eat the cost of two free tickets. But that one giveaway helped grow my Instagram audience by over 700 followers, which is HUGE when I’m starting out.

Once I get them in the door, it’s time to really understand their needs for the bookshop, pasta classes, and so on. I send surveys, gather feedback, and even use that poll feature on Instagram stories all the time just to understand what they’re thinking about. People like being heard and I believe if you show them you’re listening and put a face to the business, people trust you more too.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.readitandeatshop.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/readitandeatbuf/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/readitandeatbuf
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/read-it-and-eat-buffalo/
• Other: Our Book Subscription boxes can be found at: www.readitandeatbox.com on Instagram at: Readitandeatbox

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