How to Turn Your Hobby into a Home Business

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by Janet Harrison

If you had all the money in the world, what would you choose to do for work?
That’s the question we’re supposed to ask ourselves to identify what we’d prefer to do for a living. Maybe your response to that question indicates that you’d like to become a photographer, for example, or that you’d like to make jewelry. Identifying your dream job is surely encouraged; there’s a good chance, however, that you’re not quite ready to quit your job and pursue your hobby full time. That’s because you likely don’t have all the money in the world to do so.

But there’s no reason why you shouldn’t at least consider whether the possibility exists that you could make money by turning your hobby into a home business. Sure, you can’t expect that such a business would take off overnight. But who knows? Maybe after a few years, you’ll actually be able to quit your proverbial day job and focus your efforts on making a living while doing something you love.

Before you make a decision, you must ask yourself an important question: Are people willing to pay for what I make?

Prior to launching a home business, you have to be sure that there’s a market for the items you make or the services you offer. Ask your friends how much they’d pay for a bracelet you made, for example. Once you’re comfortable with their responses, it’s time to ask a stranger how much he or she would pay. Satisfied with that answer? It might be time to begin looking into starting a business on the side.

In order to establish your business, you need to be able to prove that you’re trying to make a profit. If you lose money year-after-year and aren’t turning a profit, the IRS could very well view your business as a hobby, limiting your deductions as a result. Here are some tips to help establish your profit motive:

• Create a business plan that clearly defines the fact that you are indeed trying to make money.
• Run your business like a business. That is, keep records of all your expenses and all of your sales.
• Make decisions to increase profits. After all, the goal of a business is to make money, so make sure your actions work toward that goal.

If you begin to realize some level of success, you might want to consider incorporating your business or establishing an LLC so as to reduce your personal liability. In doing so, you’re able to protect your personal assets—like your home, your car and your investment accounts—from creditors.

On top of that, you’ll also appear more serious to those on the outside. The IRS will see that you mean business and might be more inclined to view your operation as a business than a hobby. Customers might think the fact that you’ve incorporated or started an LLC lends you more credence. Additionally, it might be easier for you to get business loans, as banks and other investors might also take you more seriously.

Turning your hobby into a business might be a fun way for you to bring in some extra cash. After that, who knows? The sky could very well be the limit.

Just a Local Bank? Think Again. With The Milford Bank, You Can Enjoy Free ATM Withdrawals at 55,000 ATMs Across the Globe!

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By Cortney Meng

You might think that when you open a savings account or a checking account at The Milford Bank, you’ll have to do all of your banking—including free ATM transactions—within the limits of Milford and Stratford. Not so!

While it may be true that our seven branch locations are contained within those two towns, we figured now is as good a time as any to inform you, or remind you, that when you open a savings account or checking account at The Milford Bank, you’ll have access to 55,000 surcharge-free ATMs located across the United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.

That’s because The Milford Bank is part of Allpoint, the world’s largest surcharge-free ATM network. That means you can use member ATMs just as you’d use any of the machines located at all of our branches—with no hidden costs.
Usually found at places like CVS, Costco, 7-Eleven and Walgreen’s, there’s a good chance you won’t have trouble spotting these surcharge-free ATMs. In fact, you might even pass by them on a regular basis and not even know it.
Worried you won’t be able to find the appropriate ATM? Not a problem. You can download this app that leverages a geo-locator to help you find the machine that’s nearest you.

We don’t charge a fee when you use any ATM, but look out for other banks’ ATMs that may very well tack on surcharges when you are not a customer and use theirs.

Thanks to the Allpoint Network, though, you won’t have to worry about freely accessing your money. We know that’s the way you like it, and we’ll keep it that way.

Survey Shows More Customers Opting to Bank at Branches and on Mobile Devices in 2014

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by Celeste Lohrenz

How do you prefer to do your banking?

According to a recent survey by the American Bankers Association, most Americans (31 percent) prefer to do their banking online. Surprisingly, that represents an 8 percent decrease from 2013. Additionally, this year, more customers prefer doing their banking at a branch (21 percent) than they did last year (18 percent). Other banking preferences include:

  • ATMs – 14 percent (up from 11 percent)
  • Mobile – 10 percent (up from 8 percent)
  • Telephone – 7 percent (no change)
  • Mail – 6 percent (down from 7 percent)

We love it when our customers come in to one of our branches to say hello or conduct their banking business. Our staff is always excited to see friendly faces, engage in good conversation and help answer any questions our customers might have. As such, it’s encouraging to see that more people prefer to do their banking at brick-and-mortar locations this year than they did last year.

But we also understand that in today’s digital world, not everyone has time to drive to the bank for routine financial transactions. While it’s likely you’ve conducted some of your banking business online before, have you ever given mobile banking a try?

At The Milford Bank, we are proud to offer mobile banking options. With our mobile deposit tool, you are able to deposit money into your savings account, for example, no matter where you happen to be—so long as you have a mobile device handy. You can read more about our mobile deposit program here.

In addition to that, we’re pleased to offer Popmoney, a peer-to-peer payment service that lets you send money to friends, family and whoever else from your mobile device. This is perfect for sending your kids money at college or paying your brother back the couple hundred bucks you owe him. Interested in learning more about Popmoney? Stop by or call us. We’re here to help you find the financial services that work best for your needs.

You Love Local Businesses. We’ll Help You Love Them More!

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By Lynn Viesti Berube

The whole community benefits when you spend your money locally. We at The Milford Bank understand that perfectly, which is why we’re pleased to work with our business customers to make special offers available from them to the rest of our customers.

We started this program several years ago with coupons accessible on our ATMs. While we can no longer offer them at our ATMs (the software which enabled us to add coupon screens is no longer available) our customers can still find these valuable offers on our website, in our eNewsletter and in the customer newsletters mailed with their monthly paper statements.

Every quarter, working in conjunction with our business customers, we offer different coupons supporting local businesses—anything from restaurants to boutiques to flower shops and everything in between. We’re always looking for ways to help our customers save money. Our local coupon program is just one extension of that philosophy. Plus, it helps our business customers too.

Milford and Stratford are wonderful communities full of strong businesses run by great people. That’s why we’re pleased to call the two towns our home. In order to keep our communities in as good a shape as they’re in, it’s important that we support local businesses whenever possible. These coupons will help bring prices down, so please consider taking advantage of them.

Who doesn’t like to save money? We know we do. By making use of our local coupon program, it is our hope that our customers will help support local businesses without feeling like they are breaking the bank.

School Is Back in Session, So It’s Time to Get Involved With Cent$ible Kid$

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by Jorge Santiago

It’s never too early to teach your kids the importance of saving their money. But, in fact, many children get to high school lacking the financial acumen necessary to navigate the next chapters in their lives.

Understanding this, The Milford Bank launched the Cent$ible Kid$ program in 2008. We envisioned that the program would help young kids realize the importance of saving their money. To help engrain that message, we visit students in Milford and Stratford elementary schools and show them  how to open a savings account—it’s like a piggy bank, but secure and more measurable.

“We think it’s important to teach kids to regularly save their money for a worthwhile purpose, like something special they want, rather than just asking [their parents] for it,” explains Bob Russo, Vice President and Manager of our Broad Street office. “It’s about choices: They have to decide how to spend their money. We believe it promotes good behavior.”

Whether the students deposit 10 cents or $20 a week doesn’t matter to us. Rather, we’re more interested in encouraging the thrifty behavior. And that’s why we give each child a $1 bonus after making five deposits. After making eight deposits, we give them a $1 gold coin, too.

Right now, there are over 500 kids in the program, according to Russo.

In addition to encouraging the youth to open savings accounts, we also educate them on a variety of bank-related topics including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the U.S. Mint, interest rates and more.

Since school is back in session, now is the perfect time to teach your kids about the importance of saving their money. We believe that Cent$ible Kid$ is a program that will help do that.

 

School Is Almost Back in Session, So It’s Time to Get Involved With Cent$ible Kid$

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By Jorge Santiago

It’s never too early to teach your kids the importance of saving their money. But, in fact, many children get to high school lacking the financial knowledge necessary to navigate the next chapters in their lives.

Understanding this, The Milford Bank launched its Cent$ible Kid$ program in 2008. We envisioned that the program would help young kids realize the importance of saving their money. To help engrain that message, we visit students in Milford and Stratford elementary schools and show themhow to open a savings account—it’s like a piggy bank, but secure and more measurable.

“We think it’s important to teach kids to regularly save their money for a worthwhile purpose, like something special they want, rather than just asking [their parents] for it,” explains Bob Russo, a vice president and manager who works out of our Broad Street office. “It’s about choices: They have to decide how to spend their money. We believe it promotes good behavior.”

Whether the students deposit 10 cents or $20 a week doesn’t matter to us. Rather, we’re more interested in encouraging the thrifty behavior. And that’s why we give each child a $1 bonus after making five deposits. After making eight deposits, we give them a $1 gold coin, too.

Right now, there are over 500 kids in the program, according to Russo.

In addition to encouraging the youth to open savings accounts, we also educate them on a variety of bank-related topics including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the U.S. Mint, interest rates and more.
Since school is almost back in session, now is the perfect time to teach your kids about the importance of saving their money. We believe that Cent$ible Kid$ is a program that will help do that.

Have you heard of Popmoney?

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By Celeste Lohrenz

At The Milford Bank, we understand that your banking needs have evolved in a way that corresponds with our increasingly digital world. And that’s exactly why we’ve added Popmoney to our portfolio of financial services.

Popmoney is a peer-to-peer payment service that lets you send money to your friends and family—or anyone else, for that matter—via email or cell phone no matter where they happen to be located. In an instant, money can be digitally transferred from your bank account to theirs. Once it arrives, it’s theirs to spend.

The feature is standard in all of our checking accounts, so if you have one, you already have this amazing banking capability.

Imagine that your children are off at college. We all know how tight money can get during those days. The last thing you want as a parent is for your kid to need money and for you to be left scratching you head as to how to get it to them quickly. The good ole’ wire transfer won’t cut it, after all. Rather than having to send a check through the mail, Popmoney allows you to simply “send” money through a text message or email from your computer or mobile device, giving your child the money he or she needs the moment it’s needed.

Popmoney can also be used to send gifts to loved ones, issue payment to your landscaper, pay your old college buddy back for dinner or make sure your landlord gets the rent money on time, among a myriad of other things.

The service is easily accessed through our online banking system. What’s more, all of your information will be kept safe, secure and private during each transaction.