A business owner is the last one on the payroll, so they get the extra, if things go well, but they also assume pretty substantial risk. If things go badly, the buck stops at their front door; possibly on an eviction notice.
I have also watched many of these same SMB owners, hit the skids, and they fall hard. Many wreck their credit for decades, destroy any retirement savings, and, worst of all, suffer terrible self-respect damage.
I'm not being snarky, there. That demolished self-confidence can be bad. I have known folks that have become suicidal, after losing a business.
Makes being smug, kinda hard. They may have been jerks, when they were doing well, but it's quite sobering, to see what happens, when things go pear-shaped. Doubly so, if they have a family.
Or it’s to get paid for bearing all of the risk of starting and running the business, and being financially on the hook for when it fails and gets to deal with years of being sued.
All those big CEOs getting caught on the hook.
The CEO is someone that is hired by the owners, to run the company.
They may make good money, but they are paid peanuts, compared to the real owners (stockholders).
I am a big believer in having a "rainy day fund," but that doesn't happen, when Louis Vuitton comes out with a new $20K handbag...
I don't see small business owners as morally superior to workers. We're all just humans.
(And yes, starting a small business where you are able to leverage a bunch of other people's labor is still the most reliable way to become a millionaire in the US.... well, besides buying a decent house a few decades ago in California and becoming a NIMBY.)
All the bills get paid (including wages), then you get what's left over. If you had a good week, then you get a nice stack of Benjamins. If you had a bad week; maybe not so much. In fact, you may even need to chip in, to keep the lights on.
I have seen, many, many SMB owners start living "high on the hog," as soon as they start doing well. They buy a 5-bedroom house in a marqée neighborhood, a C-class Merc., LV bags, etc. I know, for a fact, that most of them make far less than I ever did. Frequently, they get the company to pay for a lot of it (put one bullet in the chamber, and give it a spin).
They have gotten used to living large, and it's damn difficult to downsize, after that.
So that means they need to do everything they can, to make sure the last pile is as big as possible; regardless of how the corporation is performing.
If they banked on hiring undocumented workers, or skilled artisans at rock-bottom prices, and that pool dries up, they are left with the choice of leasing a Subaru, and selling the Jag, or trying to make whoever has been loyal enough to stick around, fill in the gaps.