These are great points but I think 'economic hardship' is a valid reason to give, no? If you tell the judge your situation and ask to be excused (or defer it repeatedly). It sounds like you probably tried this but I mean tell them straight out 'I'm self-employed and at X days of this I no longer have rent/food/etc'.
Failing that the magic words are 'can you please explain about jury nullification and whether it is legal?'. It is my understanding that the jury nullification issue is toxic and will almost certainly get you dismissed.
Let's hypothetically say I'm a small business owner who doesn't get paid unless I put in the work, but I'm simultaneously a multi-millionaire putting away $500k/year because I work so much. Do you think a judge looking at my financial statements would agree that I have an economic hardship?
On the other hand, let's look at somebody working a salaried position who gets paid the same either way, whether he goes to work or serves on a jury. That's great for him, except he's also my employee, and now my (small) business takes the hit in identical expenses with less productivity.
I've heard the trick about jury nullification, and I would probably pull that card if I ever actually got into the courtroom, but I shouldn't need to go through all that effort, and what about the people who don't know about it?
It's been said that the only people serving on the jury are people who can't figure out how to get out of it. Having successfully gotten out of it twice with little to no effort, I don't believe that's true. Rather, I think the people serving on the jury are those who have nowhere else better to be. I don't mean to be immodest, but I think I'm a bright person, and I think that I would be a constructive addition to jury, but I and people like me just have better things to do.
Failing that the magic words are 'can you please explain about jury nullification and whether it is legal?'. It is my understanding that the jury nullification issue is toxic and will almost certainly get you dismissed.