Experience helped couple create their own office supply business

When Gary Molz stepped away from the helm of his family's office products business to start the EZ Office Products company with his wife, Rose, he had no qualms about giving her the top job.

"I work for Rose. Rose is the president of the company," said Molz, who is the vice president. "I like to be a good team player.

I don't think I have to be out front."

After all, it was Rose Molz' dream to someday run her own company.

While Gary Molz brought 30 years of experience in a family-owned business to the table -- he first worked with his father and later his mother and siblings -- Rose Molz brought her own set of qualifications. She also was a veteran in the office products industry and previous jobs in the corporate world gave her perspectives not shared by Gary Molz, whose work was only at the dealer level.

When Rose Molz, now 45, and Gary Molz, now 44, started EZ Office Products, they had the chance to create their own path.

"One of the joys of this company is we're starting with no baggage," Gary Molz said. "I'm unfettered to do whatever we wanted to do."

Started in 2006

Before EZ Office Products was started at 802 Walsh Road in January 2006, Gary Molz had worked since he was 13 for BF Molz.

Gary Molz' dad, Bert Molz, had started an office furniture and supplies company in his garage and pantry in Philadelphia in 1976.

Gary Molz helped his dad put furniture together on Saturdays and during the week.

His father picked him up after school so he could help with deliveries. When he got his driver's license, he became his dad's first driver.

"I was generation 1?," Gary Molz said. "It was my father's business but I was there from day one."

Over the years, the company grew and was moved to an office in New Jersey. Gary Molz learned the business by working in every capacity and was named president in his mid-30s.

"My father's philosophy was, I will give you one thing in life and that's an opportunity. What you do with it is up to you," Gary Molz said.

After Rose Molz graduated from La Follette High School and then UW-Madison, she put her plans for law school on hold and got a job at Rayovac.

She started in customer service, eventually was promoted to sales manager and then changed jobs again as Rayovac entered the office supply market -- she led the new division selling batteries and flashlights to office supply resellers and wholesalers.

Next she worked for United Stationers, a national office supply wholesaler, out of Dallas and later was relocated to Philadelphia.

They married in 1999

She crossed paths with Gary Molz in 1995 at an industry buying group conference. They had a chance to connect again through their work and eventually married in 1999.

When Rose Molz was faced with relocating to Atlanta, she left United Stationers in 2003. Her husband then encouraged her to join his family's company and she worked as the marketing and sales manager, handling the New Jersey location and the office the company had opened in Madison in 2002.

Gary Molz left BF Molz at the end of 2005 and he and Rose Molz purchased the division here. In January 2006, the couple reopened the business as EZ Office Products.

First they created a detailed, strategic business plan.

"I see many family businesses without a game plan," Gary Molz said.

The plan was formed after doing a fair amount of research -- even looking at what is entailed when spouses work together.

"It is challenging to work with your spouse and it took a lot of adjusting," Rose Molz said. "You have to make sure you have definitive roles."

Collaborative approach

While both Rose and Gary Molz are very opinionated, driven and like to make decisions, they have worked through the challenges, partly by taking a collaborative approach.

She likes a quote that came from a former boss: "You can have your say, but you can't always have your way."

Since women make up 85 to 90 percent of the company's customer base, EZ Office Products has come up with the profile of a typical buyer and named her "Kathy."

"We made sure it was never an issue of who was right and wrong but what is best for Kathy," Rose Molz said.

Now just over two years old, the company has nine employees, including the Molzes. Each year, the company has more than doubled in growth.

With growth, other family members have become involved:

• Rose Molz' brother, Greg Gottschalk, is the general manager of the EZ Office Products office.
• Another brother, Keith Gottschalk, recently was hired as the information systems technical services manager.
• Her mother, Marilyn Gottschalk, works part time to help process accounts receivable.

Typical of family businesses, Rose and Gary Molz pitch in where their help is needed. It's common for Rose Molz to be working the phones. Gary Molz can be found putting a computer stand together for delivery.

Gary and Rose Molz, who are members of the Family Business Center of the Wisconsin School of Business, have enjoyed creating a business that follows their vision.

"It's being able to build something and carry it out the way you think it should be done to best serve the marketplace," Rose Molz said.

Pamela Cotant is a freelance writer.