Fernando Costa Pereira

Fernando started his business in 1998 with a small warehouse and a used truck. Twenty-seven years later, he employs 12 people, owns the property, and supplies construction materials across the Centro region. He's proud of what he built—through work, not connections.

But the business climate has changed. Bureaucracy strangled growth; he spent more time with accountants and lawyers than customers. Taxes kept rising while services declined. The construction boom brought opportunity, then labor shortages—Portuguese workers scarce, he now relies heavily on Brazilian and Ukrainian employees.

His son Nuno joined the business five years ago. His other son Tiago, the engineer, makes more money in Lisbon as an employee than Nuno does inheriting a business. Fernando worries about what he's passing on—a company drowning in paperwork, competing with giants, squeezed by suppliers and customers alike.

He resents being told he's privileged because he "owns a business." No one sees the nights awake worrying about payroll, the loans personally guaranteed, the employees who depend on him. Politicians either ignore small business or treat it as a piggy bank.