Are you in need of a little inspiration? Want to get in on the “next wave” of innovative small business ideas, but aren’t sure what to do or where to start? We can help with that! Read on, and we’ll give you some great ideas that take advantage of emerging trends in the global market.

1) Embrace the Internet of Objects

Late in 2013, a group of innovative hackers launched a ‘denial of service’ attack against a company. They did so by using ‘smart’ appliances, including at least one refrigerator. It’s true, and it represents an enormous opportunity for those who act quickly.

The sad reality is that almost none of our ‘smart’ appliances have even basic firewall protection, because no one has bothered to build software that recognizes or includes them. The person who does will be on the leading edge of a whole new industry, because Cisco’s “Internet of Objects” is the fastest growing segment of the internet at this point, and will be for the foreseeable future.

2) Become an Educator

The internet is finally beginning to change the way education works. If you have a skill or area of expertise, you can easily make a video series and gain a huge following. You can also leverage on technology running a webinar, collecting enrolment fee for each participant or member. You can become widely recognized as an expert in your field which increase your opportunities to monetize on what you are teaching online.

3) Start Your own Media Company

Even if you don’t have a skill that lends itself easily to video based learning, you might know others who do. The problem (for them) is that they may not know how to make high quality videos and get them online. That’s where you come in, and it represents an enormous opportunity. One need only look at the success on online ventures like “The Khan Academy” to understand just how huge this field will be in the years ahead!

4) Boutique Manufacturing (3D Printing)

We are just beginning to see designer manufacturing shops opening up and the market for this is enormous. Building on MIT’s now famous class, “How to Make Almost Anything,” more and more people are building Fab Labs in their homes, and using those machines to “print” custom designed products for people, worldwide. So far, we’re seeing everything from shoes to glasses to furniture, but this is just the beginning. 3D Printing is opening up new industries and new possibilities every single day!

5) Be a Blueprint Librarian (Inventor)

Related to, but different from item 4 (above), maybe you want to design the blueprints for fantastic products, but prefer to leave the manufacturing and logistic details to someone else.  You can absolutely do that. With a little bit of CAD/CAM experience, you can design products digitally, and sell the blueprints for them. Your customers could then pay you to download them, and use your plans to print their own products. Check out Quirky.com – an ingenious site which allow anyone to be an inventor – all you need to do is to propose to them a great product idea and if it’s adopted by the Quirky Team, they will take your idea from concept to a real end-product which will be sold and inventor like you will earn a royalty fee.

Change in the global marketplace is accelerating, and if you’d like to be a part of it, these are just a few of the ideas that are poised to make a big splash in 2014 and beyond!