My Biggest Mistake: Patrick Keen

Patrick Keen, 51, is an international consultant on sporting guns. In 1959 he joined the Army and three years later led the first successful overland expedition in Guyana to the King George VI Falls. He left the Army in 1969 to specialise in the export of gunsights to military and civilian markets worldwide. Two years later, with a partner, he founded Gunmark, which was to become the largest gun distributor in the UK. In 1991 he joined forces with Coys of Kensington, the classic-car auction house, to open a gun department.

MY biggest mistake was not bothering to take stock before placing another order for more goods.

In 1974, when I was managing director of Gunman, my partner, Bjorn Waktare, and I went to Poland to purchase leather shooting accessories. We always went to the factory when we placed an order, because whatever we sold we designed ourselves.

I knew when we left that we were completely out of cartridge bags and belts, and that we could get excellent quality in Poland at a good price. On arrival in Warsaw we expected to meet boring factory managers, but it turned out exports were handled by a government agency and, to our delight, we found we were dealing with two young women.

They picked us up at the hotel and took us for an excellent lunch, during which a fair amount of alcohol was consumed. Over the course of the meal - and the vodka, wine and brandies - our hostesses became increasingly attractive.

It would be unfair to say they were using feminine charm to extract a large order from us, but suddenly I felt very confident about the vast quantities of leather goods we could sell at home the following year.

Our previous order had been for 2,000 pieces. I had no doubt we could double our sales, so we placed an order for another 4,000.

Back in the UK, I found a shipment from Poland had already arrived. Imagine my horror to discover it contained half of our previous order - six months late.

Instead of checking how many we had actually sold, or even how many we received, I had relied on the number we had ordered before. Since we didn't have any left, I presumed we had sold all 2,000. In fact, we had only sold 1,000, and my partner was not in the least amused when he realised I had ordered at least a two-year supply.

It taught me a lesson about the value of stock-taking. It should also have taught me not to be swayed in business by female charm.

The following year, my partner and I visited a sporting-gun factory in Italy. But before we left, we agreed we would not place an order, because we had great difficulty in selling the last lot. No sooner had we sat down to talk than an extremely attractive Italian girl arrived to translate for us.

Within half an hour I had this incredible inspiration for a new design of gun, and my partner was not particularly pleased when we left having placed an order worth pounds 20,000. We struggled for two years to get rid of those guns.

Both mistakes caused havoc with our cash flow, but they are easy mistakes to make on a buying trip abroad.

For example, when you fly to America to do business you will arrive suffering from jetlag. Inevitably you then will be taken out to dinner by people who will try to take advantage of your disorientation.

The moral is, always do a stock-check before your trip, work out in advance exactly what you can realistically sell, and do not be influenced by wine, women or song.

On arrival, allow time to settle in before having a good look round the factory. Take into account its delivery times and don't place an order until just before you leave. These days I place my orders by post]

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