I would say I'm one of the hobbyist who have done this.I provide many of the pinballs on location in Charlottesville Va,currently 14 with 2 more to set up this month at a new location.I feel better calling it a hobby cause with a business you are suppose to make money.
For me the hardest thing is fixing the games on site.I pretty much set aside time on the weekends to tend to this being I have another business to run during the week.It kills me to have a game out of order so I try to stay up on it.When I go out to do service I load up with tools and parts I might need, which most of the time don't have - requiring a second trip.When I get to the location it is usually busy and as soon as I get the playfield up it draws a crowd.Everybody wants to know what's wrong with it,what does this do,what does that do. No matter where I go someone is always there that has an uncle that used to work on pinballs.God forbid I look stumped or perplexed because then they want to share stupid solutions.If I have to go to the car for a part,the whole game has to be put back together,glass on and locked up or someone will have their fingers in it when I get back.
One horror story that happened the other week could have shut me down.I had my tools spread out on the floor working on a pinball.A little boy came running through the store and tripped over my tool box.He went airborne and l watched as his face missed the leg of the pinball by an inch.I had to go sit down for a bit and just think about this boy with a scar on his face for the rest of his life and how much I would be sued for.