Resilience has become one of those words that is used so often in business and political conversations that it can start to lose its meaning. For some, it sounds like a badge of honour. For others, it risks becoming an expectation that business owners will simply absorb more and more pressure without question.

When we talk about resilience at the Federation of Small Businesses in Wales, what we really mean is the ability to absorb stress and continue operating in altered circumstances. On that definition, business owners are resilient by default. They have had to be. Over the past two decades, they have navigated the financial crisis, Brexit, the Covid pandemic and a series of global shocks that each demanded different responses. The nature of resilience has not changed; the challenges have.

What concerns me is the narrative that seems to suggest resilience is an endless resource. The feedback I hear repeatedly from our members is not that they lack resilience. It is that they are increasingly having to run their businesses in spite of the economic environment, rather than being supported by it.

People start a business because they are passionate about what they do and about the sector they operate in. That comes through consistently in our surveys. What they are telling us now is that survival has become the overriding focus, rather than growth. There is a sense that we are stuck in a holding pattern, waiting for conditions that allow businesses to thrive again.

I see this contrast clearly in my own experience. I run an IT business, a sector that is growing. That is not the case for many others. If you are running a local café or a tourism business, you may be dealing with rising business rates, the removal of reliefs, higher wage costs and increased energy bills, all at the same time. These are businesses that sit at the heart of local communities and local economies, yet many owners are barely taking a wage themselves.

One business owner I spoke to recently, who employs more than 20 people, told me that after sitting down with her accountant she had worked out she earned 47p an hour last year. That is not sustainable. And yet there is still a perception that business owners are doing very well while everyone else struggles. The reality for many small firms could not be further from that.

Small businesses contribute far more than is often recognised. They develop skills, create jobs, support communities and contribute to the tax base that funds public services. That is why there is real hope among many business owners that the period ahead can look different. Confidence, however, is at a very low point. Our business index shows it is lower now than it was during the pandemic. Rebuilding that confidence must be an early priority for whoever forms the next Welsh Government.

The period before an election brings its own challenges. During purdah, announcements and decisions are constrained, and that can create a vacuum. As business leaders know, a vacuum of leadership is never helpful. It affects hiring decisions, capital investment and growth planning. This uncertainty is not coming after a long stretch of stability, which is why our members are raising it so strongly with us.

That is why FSB Wales is challenging those who seek to govern in Wales after May to treat the 2026 to 2030 Senedd term as the small business term. What we are asking for is straightforward: a clear economic plan and steady funding over those years to provide certainty and close the gap many small firms feel between themselves and decision-making in the Senedd.

There are opportunities out there, but small business owners are already spinning many plates. Identifying those opportunities, having the right skills in place and delivering on them all takes time and capacity. Greater certainty would make a meaningful difference.

As Chair of FSB Wales, I also see the value of support networks and advocacy. Peer support, practical advice and access to help on issues like employment, contracts and regulation matter. So does having a strong voice that explains the real-world impact of policy decisions to those making them. Too often, decisions are taken by people who are not close to small business, yet the consequences land squarely on those firms.

Our message to policymakers is consistent. Create an economic environment that allows businesses to thrive, not just survive. Do not rely on business owners becoming ever more resilient to compensate for instability elsewhere. And once the election is over, move quickly to provide certainty.

Resilience may be the normal operating state for business leaders, but growth depends on the conditions around them. Getting those conditions right would benefit not just small firms, but the wider Welsh economy and the communities those businesses serve.

John Hurst talks about this and more in the Business in Focus From Startup to Scaleup podcast. Listen here.