Also, the government generally has policies that some % of things have to come from small businesses, sometimes they'll hire you just in order to check a box, I'd guess.

Nevertheless, if you can design an airplane seat, there are other customers than the air force.

Lots of niche machines are made by 3 or 4 people and sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars per unit, to farms, to factories, to anyone in business. Consumers will argue with you for a week over a $10 purchase, but people buying things to make money with won't bat an eye at $10,000.

There's a great big world out there and every hurdle doesn't have to be jumped, you can just walk around it half the time.