Templates & Checklists

10 High-Growth Business Ideas

Most small businesses start with a great idea. However, we know that sometimes a great small business idea can be coaxed out with a bit of help. To whet your entrepreneurial appetite, we scanned trends in society, our economy and technology and government regulations and came up with a list of businesses expected to grow in the next 10 years. Your next great small business idea could be in this list!

Nanotechnology

The science around matter and processes that operate at the molecular level is growing rapidly. Scientists and engineers are developing molecular machines, such as microscopic level diagnostic chips that we can swallow to enable a doctor to track what is happening in our body. Nanotechnology will open the door to thousands of new products and services that never existed before, so think small!

Autonomous Vehicles

Uber and Lyft are among the first car sharing companies to go global, but more service providers are expected to step up to the plate. The idea is to make traveling easy and convenient for consumers or personal use, as well as corporate transport using apps and geolocation technologies. Car sharing also appeals to the social and environmental consciousness of many people. Autonomous vehicles are also going to become more commonplace as initial trials in controlled environments wind down in preparation for mainstream distribution. This will have a significant effect on companies offering auto insurance and liability coverage, as well as car sharing drivers.

Machine Learning

Machine learning has the potential to be one of the biggest trends impacting businesses over the next decade. Machine learning is a field of computer science that uses statistical techniques to give computer systems the ability to “learn” without being programmed – through pattern recognition. The transportation and medical industries are likely to be first in line for disruption. 

Blockchain and Bitcoin

When Bitcoin broke onto the scene, it garnered a lot of buzz — a digital currency being used to buy everything from drugs to cupcakes. Then the excitement shifted to an aspect of Bitcoin that's pretty interesting too - public online accounting ledgers. Blockchain — the technology used for verifying and recording transactions that are at the heart of Bitcoin — is seen as having the potential to reshape the global financial system and possibly other industries. 

Internet of Things

Tiny sensors, proliferating at astounding rates, are expected to explode in number over the next decade, potentially linking over 50 billion physical entities as costs plummet and networks become more pervasive. What we’re describing may sound like a science fiction movie, but it’s quickly becoming reality. Imagine swallowing a tiny sensor that relays information via your smartphone to your physician, or embedded sensors in the furniture at the home of your aging parents alerts you to unexpected or no movement.

Augmented and Virtual Reality

Billions of dollars invested by companies will lead to a new generation of displays and user interfaces. The screen as we know it — on your phone, your computer and your TV — will disappear and be replaced by eyewear. The result will be a massive disruption in a number of industries ranging from consumer retail, to real estate, education, travel, entertainment, and the fundamental ways we operate as humans.

Seniors’ Services

Thanks to the baby boom generation, it’s no secret that the populations of America, the U.K., Europe, Japan and Canada are aging. Products and services designed specifically around the needs of the elderly will continue to grow — everything from dating services, to cafés designed for seniors, to home health care to services that drive elders to appointments. 

3D Printing

3D printing, a process for creating a three dimensional object from a three dimensional digital model by the “printing” of successive layers of material, is forecasted to be a multibillion dollar industry. Manufacturers across a broad spectrum of industries including automotive, aerospace, dental, high-tech, and medical products are all actively piloting and using 3D printing technologies today. Prototyping continues to dominate the reasons why enterprises pursue 3D printing, with the opportunity of improving new product development and time-to-market being long-term goals.

Financial Planning

Defined as the long-term process of wisely managing your finances so that you can achieve your retirement goals and dreams, demand for personal financial planning services is on the rise. Amsterdam’s private bank Insinger de Beaufort provides a unique financial planning service — sending a shoe box by courier to the client’s home on a monthly basis in which the client deposits all of their bills, parking tickets, insurance documents, tax returns — which are taken care of by the bank. The bank pays all of the bills and returns a summary to the client of all of the transactions that were made. Another unique twist is MasterCard’s face card — a product aimed at teens over 13 to put a new twist on allowance. A reloadable card that’s accepted anywhere MasterCard is accepted. How about a social twist on banking? SmartyPig allows customers to create a profile and savings account for a big event such as a wedding or vacation, and then the SmartyPig can be posted to a social networking site like Facebook for family and friends to see how close you are to your goal — and to help pitch in if they feel so inclined.

Security Companies

In today’s world of cybercrime and identity theft, we feel less secure, both online and offline. People are willing to pay for services to help protect them from identity theft, for home security systems, and for shredding services to foil dumpster divers. Ontario native Fergus Keyes used his experience in this quickly-growing industry to form Panamsec.com Inc., a security product distributor that saw nearly half a million dollars in sales in its first year of operations.

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