The 1998 Survey of Small Business Finances is sponsored by the Federal Reserve Board, the governing body of the Federal Reserve System. The 1998 SSBF marks the third time that the Federal Reserve Board has collected information about the state of small businesses in the United States. The first survey was conducted in 1988, and the second round was conducted in 1994. While data on small businesses exist from a variety of sources including the Small Business Administration, the Commerce Department, the Treasury Department, and the Labor Department, no other source provides information on the finances of small businesses including income and expenses, as well as asset and liability information.
Small businesses use a variety of sources to finance themselves.
These include personal savings and informal channels such as friends and family, formal institutions such as commercial banks and finance companies, and other types of credit such as trade credit. Beyond financing, firms also require financial services from institutions such as credit card processing, lockboxes, and obtaining currency. Since the 1993 survey, there has been continued consolidation in the banking industry. Research on the impact of this consolidation on small business lending is still limited. The 1998 SSBF will allow study on the impact of bank mergers and consolidations, as well as the rise in interstate banking, on small businesses.