It seems like self-employment is really struggling these days

An acquaintance of mine runs a kimbap restaurant, and they say even civil servants aren't coming out for lunch anymore.
His mother has been working in the kitchen and he has been handling the counter and serving for about 7 years, so they managed to make some money, but he says sales have dropped sharply this year, including delivery orders.
I used to wonder if he was cut out for the service industry because he has a naturally grumpy personality, but his mother is a great cook and since all the other snack bars in the neighborhood went out of business, things had been going quite well for them.