As it currently stands, scripted businesses provide 0 RP (no, ordering stock and colluding with other business owners in discord to set prices is not RP), and are only meant to provide a quite obscene amount of passive income to the owner.
1) Add some competition to the businesses. Allow them to order in bulk for less money, make deals with specific distributors (for example Ill buy 5000 lockpicks a week for cheaper, but I need to keep buying them for 10 weeks or else face some sort of fine), and have the distributors they order from share stock. Allow businesses to fail.
a) Potential for 'distribution rep' job, who bargains with businesses and sets prices on stock.
2) Make the prices of businesses not be so limited by their scarcity. The current model of business prices is essentially "I paid n million for it, I won't sell for any less as this is extremely scarce and valuable regardless", and the next owner does the same, driving their price up infinitely. Business prices are already out of reach of most anyone who has joined and grinded hard in the past year, and is mostly reserved for old-timers who either were previous business owners, have grinded in a legal faction for years, or got lucky with some investments.
3) Everyone likes to compare e-rp to 'real life', and guess what, in real life a small grocery store is as cheap/attainable as a house, while the price on eclipse (due to the aforementioned points) is many times higher than that. Why can't I open a small shack that just serves food/water, and has deals with only those distributors for say 5-600k in one of the empty storefronts?