I see this as an inevitable consequence of the fact that most small business owners assign a large value to the intangible of "being your own boss" not to mention the potential for wealth, and this drives everyone to have no margin for downturns.

I mean, think about restaurants. Who starts a restaurant because they think it's the easiest way to make a dollar? The very fact that many people want to do something for reasons other than sheer profit means that profit will be driven below normal which will cause pain over time.

What can the rich do to prevent this? Unless they got together and eliminated the ability of the non-rich to seek wealth. Sometimes, that's the conclusion elites reach about things; they do it to some extent. Like the way in the US you have to be a "qualified investor" with a certain amount of assets to invest in unregulated securities.