I know a few people who have or had small businesses. Like, actually small businesses, running things out of their homes basically. There is no end of confusing paperwork. Taxes are a nightmare. You need special insurance. You need permits. The barriers to entry for things like "selling arts and crafts out of your living room" are absolutely mind boggling. I don't know anyone who can really keep up. They do it for a few years, absolutely love it, fall behind on paperwork, and fold. Not because they aren't profitable but because they just can't keep up with the constant hoops the government throws at you to stop you from selling shit out of your living room.

There is almost no such thing as a small business in this country, and every single law to "help" small business actually just adds one more hoop that any remaining small businesses now have to find a way to jump through