If I can't represent my business myself, what does paying for help with my answer actually get me?

What you're paying for in this specific situation is a properly prepared, accurately completed, and timely filed answer, the formal responsive pleading that prevents a default judgment, an automatic loss entered against a defendant who never responded at all, from being entered against your business. This also typically includes an assessment of whether your business might have its own viable claim worth raising back against the plaintiff, called a cross-complaint.

What this kind of help fundamentally buys you is time and a stopped clock, specifically the months that follow your properly filed answer during which you can locate and financially arrange for an attorney if the case is going to be genuinely contested, or alternatively use that time to pursue a negotiated settlement. It does not include, and cannot include given the attorney-representation requirement for entities, anyone actually appearing in the courtroom on your business's behalf.