It is not true in all states that corporations must be represented by an attorney in small claims court. In California, corporations must be represented by a non-attorney employee for small claims actions.
The idea is that a Small Claims judge in Cali does not expect a lawyer, so, there is no need or expectation to any legal lingo, which by itself can be confusing to normal people, plus the rules of evidence are not nearly as strict as in Superior Court, plus, not that much money is at stake.
The thing that may be daunting about Superior Court is that the judge is supposed to take it easy on pro-se litigants, but at the same time, they are still supposed to be impartial, and can't really act as your own lawyer.