Tango Mango founder on entrepreneuship

On Tuesday, the Entrepreneur Society hosted Shirley Spinetta, the founder of Tango Mango, a restaurant in Newton, Mass. for a round-the-table discussion on her business and entrepreneurship in general.

"Some of you feel or think you are entrepreneurs," she said. "I never really knew what the word was until I was about 30, but a friend of mine said something when I was thinking of putting my resume together and working for corporate America because I obviously wasn't getting anywhere. One day she said to me, 'Shirley, you are a circle and you're trying to put yourself into a square.'"

When you are an entrepreneur, you are an entrepreneur whether you like it or not, Spinetta said. It's in your blood. It's who you are.

"You work 200 hours a week and it really doesn't matter because it's your baby."

Many people see entrepreneurship, particularly starting one's own business, as an insecure venture.

"Some people will ask what the security is in starting your own business - there's no security. But you can work for corporate America for 25 years and you get axed so there's really no security anywhere. So, if you have a dream, if you have a vision, you just follow it."

For 22 years, Spinetta worked in her electrolysis private practice. Her husband, at the time, was also in a private practice of his own.

"It was great. I was raising my daughter. I had stability. My schedule worked around her schedule," she said.

Things changed for Spinetta, however, when her daughter, who is now 23 years old and at Clark University, was a junior in high school.

"What I found out when she was a junior in high school was that all the kids would go off campus," she said. "They would leave because some of the seniors had cars. I would be home when she was home. And the kids would come in and out of the house at different hours of the day, many times a week, and they were going to Anna's [Taqueria]. That was the mantra - 'We're going to Anna's.'"

One day after passively observing this trend, Spinetta went to see what Anna's was.

"I had never had a burrito or a taco in my life, but I had one from Anna's and wasn't all that impressed. But that was OK because I knew where these kids were going." She continued to watch her daughter and friends flock to Anna's for their entire senior year.

"I have a whole philosophical part in me that you can take our leave, but I believe there are no coincidences. People come into your life at certain points of time. And when I was in the last year of my private practice of hair removal, I ran into a chef. I was in a jam - needed to do the soccer dinner. He did it. He was a really great cook. And also, he was a good person. I had to trust my guts."

At the time, her daughter was about to go off to college and Spinetta was also going through a divorce. All of the sudden, she felt she needed something new to do. "I thought this was really waiting to happen. And so I put everything I had, everything I didn't have and more, into investing in Tango Mango," she said. Like many entrepreneurs, however, Spinetta had nothing. Through the divorce, she was able to maintain her house, but had to refinance it. She also had to borrow on her ex-husband's life insurance and ask her brother for money. Simply put, money was running out. Spinetta was successful, however, because she was persistent and intelligent.

"Before I built Tango Mango, I obviously researched. I had the concept. I saw the kids liked it."

To move forward, she contacted an old friend who had owned many restaurants, explaining her idea to him and then jointly analyzing the situation.

"We went to Anna's and did a site search. It clicked. Then we did a food analysis. Then he said this is what we can afford for rent and so on. We worked it out so that it would be something that was doable," she said.

Because each person had different areas of experience, Spinetta decided to split the functioning of the enterprise - she would run the front and her friend would run the kitchens.

"I didn't know anything about kitchens or cooking temperatures," she said.

Nevertheless, most of Spinetta's friends did not share their conviction for the business.

"All my friends were saying, 'You are out of your mind - 99 percent of restaurants fail.' But I figured I had to do it because if I didn't do it, someone else would do it. If it didn't work, I'd reinvent myself again. No big deal," she said.

Spinetta also remembered a bit wisdom from her uncle.

"I went to visit my parents in Florida. He was there and was into building homes. He took me to a development and I asked him what he knew about building homes. He said, 'I knew nothing, but I learn quickly,'" she said.

Spinetta recognizes the subtle effectiveness of off-hand, yet sagacious comments like this. As an entrepreneur, the 'eureka moment' is crucial - people will say things to you that will impact you in a certain way and a light bulb will flick on in your mind.

"Was it supposed to happen? Call it whatever you want - the universe, the divine. When you push and things are moving, you go," she said.

Spinetta also emphasized the importance of research. She analyzed and explored different taquerias for nearly a year before going forward with Tango Mango. Nonetheless, she also pointed out that even if people have conducted plenty of research and their project is not moving word, it is smarter to step back and reevaluate the endeavor. In addition, she also does view business partners as assets.

"I put everything and more - everything I didn't have and more - to avoid having a financial partner," Spinetta said.

This is because when it comes down to money, one doesn't know anyone that well.

"It's really tricky when it comes to money. I give things away; I work from abundance. Someone wants to be a partner can be on my back for a nickel. It could have never worked. It would have folded. One of us would have killed each other - one of us would have had to leave. If you can avoid a partner, do so," she said.