Well, I think i understand some of the reasons that LP's have more cost than a guy with 4 lights:
1 the small scale grower is using property he already pays for to live on, while the LP has a lease or building costs
2 the small grower doesn't have to meet electrical, plumbing or fire code
3 he doesn't have to carry special insurance
4 he doesn't have to pay employees and take the money left over as he is the sole employee asides from trimming, pruning , or potting up
5 he doesn't have to try to coordinate a new system with a bunch of random employees who don't normally work together
6 he doesn't have to deal with paying for product testing at a lab
7 no paying taxes on employees and product sales
8 at the small growers place- 100% of people working know what the hell they are doing
9 no large scale pest or pathogen problems
10 no dealing with uncooperative HC for endless hours
11 cash flow moves faster for a small scale because product turnover is way faster
12 coordinating more people is always slower than less people
13 the small grower doesn't have to deal with stakeholders, or investors that want a say in how things are done that know not very much at all, but think they are geniuses cause they have $
14 no training dumbasses and liars who are there to spy on the company instead of actually work the plan forward
15 the small scale grower is probably a GROWER not a businessman looking for a quick buck and his knowledge or the craft is far deeper