Hmmm,,,
Is McDonald's a "big business"?
The only reason I can see which would justify your comment is that big businesses became big by making sure that their employees were productive enough to justify higher pay.
Manufacturing jobs, for example, could pay more per employee in wages because they typically made investments in machinery and automation.
The manager of the book store paying himself $28,000 per year indicates to me that he was running his business as a hobby. Who could live in or commute to San Francisco on an annual wage of $28k? This business has been unprofitable for a long time and is closing down only because it has finally become too unprofitable to continue.
A Micky D’s franchisee is a small business.