There's a distinction between something like gaming or a mom-'n-pop restaurant vs. business software or building your own house. The first category still exist

There's a distinction between something like gaming or a mom-'n-pop restaurant vs. business software or building your own house. The first category still exists much more than the second; I think the difference is whether taste is the dominant feature of the product. Indie games aren't being regulated out of existence, and they don't need much scale to survive, compared to something like a five-and-dime shop; they're almost purely about taste. Building your own house is partly about taste, but there are a ton of physical constraints and different specialized skills involved in making it work (plus the regulatory concerns), so generally taste takes a back-seat, and the beautiful houses are old ones that were grandfathered-in. An independent restaurant is somewhere in between; you have to meet health department standards, and you have to make money in order to keep it open, but past a minimum bar of safety and comfort, your customers care mainly about the food and atmosphere and are willing to pay for it. If it were all about scale, McDonald's would be the only thing left.