Christine Hanisco is always in a hurry these days.
“You’re my second interview today,” she says as she opens the door of the Kingston ranch home where she creates and sells “Dippy Chick” dip mixes. “I just finished a radio interview for the Start-Up Nation radio program.”
While many mom-and-pop businesses begin with mom making a product and pop saying she ought to sell it, Hanisco’s story is a little different.
Though she has always cooked, she says it wasn’t a “huge hobby” of hers.
She’d never given dips one thought over another until she started going to craft fairs and noticing how many people sold homemade dip mixes.
Hanisco knew it was something she could produce with a relatively small start-up cost, and she’d been looking for something to do out of her home since she became pregnant with Angus. She concocted a spinach dip and a garlic dip first, trying them on friends and family, and then branched out.
“I think I created my entire product line in one week,” she recalls. Her husband remodeled part of the basement for her to create and package dips.
Hanisco now produces 15 dip mixes, with names like Kamikaze Wasabi and Battlestar Garlic-tica. The dips are appropriate for special diets, she says. All her ingredients are natural, some are organic, and all are gluten-free, as she and the boys have celiac disease.
Hanisco has never taken a business course. “I read a lot,” she says. “When I want to learn something, I grab a book and read it, or go on-line.” As her business continues to grow, she’ll be doing more reading. “There’s so much I want to do,” she says, “and it seems slow in accomplishing it.”
Photo by Dippy Chick.
Dan on January 18th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Everytime I read stories like this I just hope that the entrepreneur has taken at least a basic food sanitation course and has looked into getting the required licenses… without them the risk is too great.
DippyChick on January 25th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Just a comment regarding the comment on food sanitation. (I found your blog through my web stats.) Yes, I sure did take a food sanitation class and received my ServSafe certificate. It is not required in my state but I felt it was important. I paid for it myself (it wasn’t cheap) and drove 2 1/2 hours to take an 8-hour class while I was 7 months pregnant. The exam was actually difficult, and some people didn’t pass. Also, my kitchen - although home-based, is licensed and inspected by the state and I have to submit water sample results and renew my license every year. I happen to be very careful - but I know a lot of home-based food businesses are not. I label my products according to the current law, and even beyond. I always wear new gloves and a hat when handling food, and I wash my hands constantly. We only deal with dry herbs and spices here, but we take a lot of precaution and care.
Anyway, you are correct in being wary. I just wanted to make sure people here know that I take the utmost care with my products and the environment that they are manufactured in. I take my business very seriously. I am incorporated and carry liability insurance. Most home-based businesses don’t even go that far.
Thanks!
Chris the Dippy Chick :)