Hundreds turn ideas into businesses as Rebel Business School reveals impact in Dundee and Scotland
Could helping more ordinary people turn their ideas into businesses unlock untapped potential in Dundee?
That’s one of the questions raised by a new report from Rebel Business School after a year of entrepreneurship programmes across Scotland, including Dundee.
Rather than starting with lengthy business plans, investment or loans, Rebel takes a different approach - encouraging people to test their ideas, find customers and start making sales.
And its latest figures suggest that many of those taking part were completely new to entrepreneurship.
Across Scotland, 1,024 people engaged with the programme during 2025/26, with 554 taking part in training. Of those participants, 58% had never run a business before, while 40% were unemployed.
Dundee was one of five areas highlighted in Rebel’s in-person delivery alongside Glasgow, Stirling, Hamilton and Aberdeen.
From an idea to actually making a sale
One of the most interesting findings from the report is what happened after people were encouraged to simply have a go.
Around 17% of participants made their first sale during the project, while 28% made a sale overall.
By the end of the project, 35% were trading and 57% had launched a new product or service.
Perhaps even more significantly, 79% said they had overcome a barrier to enterprise as a result of the course.
Those barriers matter because Rebel argues that Scotland doesn’t have a shortage of people with ideas - but that access to money, networks, confidence and opportunity can prevent people from doing anything with them.
The impact goes beyond starting businesses
Not everybody taking part ultimately becomes an entrepreneur.
Rebel says around one in five participants will not go on to start a business, but its findings suggest the programmes can have a wider personal impact.
Some 90% of participants reported an increase in confidence, 83% reported increased happiness and 92% saw an improvement in self-efficacy - essentially their belief in their own ability to take action and succeed.
The programme also reached groups who can face additional barriers to traditional employment and entrepreneurship.
Women accounted for 71% of participants, while 21% identified as disabled.
What could this mean for Dundee?
Dundee has long had a strong creative, independent and entrepreneurial community, from hospitality and retail to design, technology and the creative industries.
But not every potential business begins with someone who thinks of themselves as an entrepreneur.
That is perhaps the most interesting idea behind Rebel’s findings.
Its approach is based on finding people who have an idea or skill but lack the confidence, money, contacts or knowledge to take the first step - and helping them test whether that idea could actually generate an income.
The businesses developed through the Scottish programme were incredibly varied. Arts, entertainment and recreation was the largest sector represented, followed by health and social work, food services and craft businesses.
Ideas ranged from crochet lessons and special-effects prosthetics to VR game development and gingerbread-house creation.
For a city like Dundee, the findings raise an interesting question about economic development: alongside attracting major employers and investment into the city, how much untapped economic potential already exists within its own communities?
An estimated £4.5 million impact
Rebel estimates that changes in employment, self-employment and economic participation resulting from its work could represent around £4.5 million in annual economic impact across Scotland.
Its modelling estimates around £1.3 million in savings to the public purse, alongside increased economic activity from people moving into self-employment and paid work.
That works out at an estimated £27 of annual economic value for every £1 invested by project partners.
Rebel stresses that the figure is an estimate rather than an audited financial return. Its calculation combines attendance data from the Scottish programme with longer-term outcomes from previous Rebel projects and external economic benchmarks.
But the wider argument made in the report is considerably simpler.
Economic regeneration doesn’t only come from major developments, infrastructure and large employers.
Sometimes it can begin with somebody in Dundee having an idea - and being given the confidence to try it.
