That just means for numerous professions, running a business is more hassle than it is worth. Accounting, dentistry, massage, etc. all come to mind. Those people want to all practice their field, not deal with licenses, paperwork, and tax.

> Those people want to all practice their field, not deal with licenses, paperwork, insurance, and tax.

This problem has been solved for a century, in the form of the practice which employs support staff, sometimes a multi-practitioner practice which shares those staff.

PE rolling into it has been a very recent phenomena.

That doesn't mean that. That is what one might infer if one believed the conclusion were true. But that's only persuasive to those predisposed to believe it. Which I am not.

Regardless, running a business has always been more hassle than it's worth for people who would just rather have a job. But it has been worth it for those who prefer independence. If you wanted to claim that things were radically worse, you could take a swing at it. But given the rise in communications, computers, SaaS, and service outsourcing, there's a strong case to be made that it's much easier to run a professional service business.

And I think the just-want-to-do-the-work thing is a bit of a red herring. I was recently talking with an optometrist whose joint practice was sold to a PE firm. His precise complaint was that PE was interfering with just doing the work, which he saw as helping patients.

Did he say what lead him to sell then?

It is frustrating to me when I respond in detail to somebody's querulous points and they just abandon everything discussed to hare off in some new direction. It certainly doesn't motivate me to write a quality reply.