It was often owner/managers that couldn’t stay the f out of the way of employees who knew what they were doing, didn’t have a menu that was cost- and manpower-effective, or didn’t get rid of bad employees.

The show was obviously edited for effect, but IIRC the businesses were legit. They were usually on their last financial “leg”, and owners would give up.

Virtually all the failures otherwise were because the owner or management refused to follow Ramsay’s advice.