I think you hit the nail on the head. "Solo person with a laptop" (to exaggerate) has to jump through all the hoops a "proper company" has to do (and shouldn't)

I think you hit the nail on the head. "Solo person with a laptop" (to exaggerate) has to jump through all the hoops a "proper company" has to do (and shouldn't) - but a proper company with a low amount of people is not much more work. Because that's what I meant, and it didn't feel overly bureaucratic to me.