Save money; book cheap flights in the afternoon.

Have you ever wondered when the best time is to book a flight. We all know to book well in advance and that prices are seasonal, but you might be surprised to find out that the time of day also influences the price of cheap flights - so save money on cheap seats - book cheap flights in the afternoon. Here's a survey done by online travel engine TO. Conducted at various times through the day on 10 Feb 2010, it shows a definite trend indicating that you should be booking at 13:00 to save money on cheap seats.   A survey conducted by the Wall Street Journal also indicates that airfare is more expensive over weekends. Their research...

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Succession planning

The tragic events of Thursday afternoon, when a Pilatus belonging to Italtile crashed into the sea off Plettenburg Bay, highlights some of the not so obvious dangers of business and the consequences of a lack of succession planning.I’m not sure whether Italtile have a succession plan in place, but having lost many of their Exco in the crash could have dire consequences for the company. A tragedy such as this could have the following consequences, should there be no succession plan in place:If the CEO and CFO are counter signatories to things such as payroll; this function could be frozen. The solution to this is to obviously have 3 to 4 nominated signatories, of which any 2 suffice.The succession plan needs to be at least three levels deep within the structure. Obviously in such circumstances,...

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Small business management

When a small business owner draws up his business plan, he takes it as a given that he will have sufficient small business management skills to grow the business. But often he loses sight of best practice in his business. Here is some small business advice: 1. Provide spectacular customer service -- every time. Introduce a “mystery shopper”. Have a friend visit your business and provide feedback from a customer’s perspective. This person should be unknown to your staff and willing to provide a candid assessment. 2. Make sure your front and back office work like a well-oiled machine. Are the front line and the back office telling your customers the same thing? Part of good small business management, it’s a good idea to hold frequent staff meetings where the business’ vision is reinforced. 3....

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