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>Can someone explain why so many companies these days struggle to make a profit?

Beside the obvious risk of running a company (competition, incompetence etc.) There is excessive regulation, taxes, paperwork etc. I estimate that cumulatively most of us pay around 3/4 of our earnings to regulation, taxes and other forms of bureaucracy.

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So why bother? Not in jest. If you can't be profitable from the get-go, what's the point?

It does end up killing a lot of initiatives. A lot of people who could have potentially ran even small businesses don't. To your point: there is no point really for most ordinary mortals so they succumb to soul crushing jobs. For example many small farmers are in this situation.

As a ongoing example I've heard that businesses are leaving California and New York in droves to place with less regulation.

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