10 Fast-Growing Industries Beyond AI to Start a Business In

By Linda Mohamed Updated Feb 24, 2020

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Introduction
Sustainable personal care
Gender-neutral personal care
Plant-based snacks
Alcohol-free drinks
At-home fitness
Entertainment platforms
Clean water services
Communications infrastructure
Alternative transport
Green travel

10 Fast-Growing Industries Beyond AI to Start a Business In main image

Find out more about top industries for b-school graduates

It’s safe to say the 2010s was a decade of entrepreneurship.

In the US alone, the number of entrepreneurship-focused college programs increased from 180 to over 2000 between 1990 and 2014. And as of 2017, 27m Americans had just started or were running new businesses.

These figures shouldn’t come as a shock. Technology continues to drive societal change, making it easier to start a business – all you really need is a great idea, a fast internet connection and an initial investment.

Nevertheless, competition in the 2020s is set to be tougher than ever before and you’ll need to have a clear business plan in mind. Who will your product be for? Why will consumers need it? Is there room in future markets for your company?

But, here at TopMBA.com we’ve made a few predictions for the industries we think you might want to tap into to ensure your business venture is successful.

From personal care to entertainment and fitness, these 10 industries are growing fast and can offer you unique opportunities to become an entrepreneur.

Sustainable personal care

We’re sure you already know all about bamboo toothbrushes by now, but hear us out. As consumers become increasingly more aware of their environmental impact and the dangers of highly industrial products, they’re bound to look for better, cleaner alternatives.

Whether it’s compostable cosmetics or zero waste hygienic products, sustainable personal care is going to truly set off in the 2020s, and you’ll be spoilt for choice.

Gender-neutral personal care

As we’re starting to move away from heavily gendered distinctions for personal care products, more and more companies are using a gender-neutral approach to everything beauty, hygiene and care related.

Similar to sustainable personal care, the options are endless – if you have a good formula, navigating the market won’t be too difficult.

Plant-based snacks

As new research revealed that a highly processed, high fat and high sugar diet can go as far as impairing brain function, companies will soon be scrambling to come up with on the go packaged foods that fit into the new health standards.

While plant-based foods aren’t exactly a niche market, there’s a lot of room for improvement, particularly when it comes to snacks. In the US alone, the snack food industry is currently valued at US$43bn (£33bn) – how’s that for an incentive?

Alcohol-free drinks

The alcohol-free industry is booming, and not just for the month of (Dry) January, with sales growing by 232 percent in just five years. Popular retailer Brewdog even opened an entirely alcohol-free bar in London!

Nevertheless, as per plant-based snacks, there’s room for improvement here too. If drinks are your passion, don’t let big brands have all the fun and come up with alcohol-free options that are so delicious no one will be able to resist.

At-home fitness

For busy people, gyms can be a substantial investment of time and money, one that not everyone is willing to make. This has sparked the trend of at-home workouts – whether it’s 30-day yoga challenges on YouTube or membership-based virtual sessions through high-tech machines like the infamous Peloton.

This market is already worth US$106bn (£81.3bn), and it’s safe to say it might just be the next frontier of the fitness industry.

Entertainment platforms

While Netflix and Amazon Prime ruled online streaming for most of the 2010s, the launch of Disney Plus in November 2019 took the industry by storm, demonstrating there’s room for competition.

Because these platforms already span across genres, aspiring entertainment entrepreneurs may want to look at niche, untapped markets. Anime? Foreign cinema? Nature documentaries? Whatever floats your remote.

Clean water services

As more and more people become aware of the negative effects of contaminants in water, water filtration has become a public health concern and an important issue for companies to tackle.

If your dream is to make a useful and genuinely helpful product, working in clean water services would really help you improve the lives of your consumers.

Communications infrastructure

5G is already here, and it’s here to stay.

As new smart phones, watches and laptops continue to hit the market, these new technologies are set to change the speed information travels on a real-time basis. Companies will not only need to adapt to this shift, but also come up with new products that will be able to keep up with it. Could this be the perfect opportunity for you?

Alternative transport

It’s almost impossible to go into a major city now without seeing a Lime or Bird electric scooter parked on a street corner. And it’s for a good reason – it’s a relatively cheap, fast and eco-friendly way of getting around.

This doesn’t mean taxi services like Uber or Lyft will disappear, but alternatives are bound to pop up more and more as consumers seek eco-conscious solutions. Fancy a ride?

Green travel

Riding the ‘green wave’ of business, there is one last industry you can tap into: travel.

While airlines have been trying to reduce harmful emissions amongst accusations of greenwashing, more and more tourists are turning to unusual and greener ways of traveling – from smart bikes to carpooling and endless bus journeys.

But there’s still a long way to go and who knows, you might be the one to crack the code of green travel.

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Written by

Linda Mohamed

Linda was a Content Writer at TopMBA, creating content about students, courses, universities and businesses. She recently graduated in Journalism & Creative Writing with Politics and International Relations, and now enjoys writing for a student audience.