"The world is changing very quickly. Big will not beat small anymore. It will be the fast beating the slow," says media mogul Rupert Murdoch. We scanned trends in society, our economy, and technology and government regulations.  Here are our picks for the most promising business opportunities of the next decade.

1. 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, such as the products sold by Swiss company HeiQ started by Murray Height and Carlo Centonze, the company inserts silver into clothing, using its chemical makeup to reduce the growth of bacteria and odour.

2. Wireless technology – with rapid advances in artificial intelligence, processing speeds, and integrated circuitry, the future of mobile “office on the go” devices seems positive.  How many of you are already glued to your Blackberry or iPhone?

3. “Tween” products and services –Tweens, or children between 8 and 12 years old, play a powerful role in the family purchase decision process – from restaurants and hotels, to cars and houses – tweens are controlling family purse strings.  Between spending their own money and influencing their parents’ purchase decisions, this segment controls nearly $300 billion in annual North American spending. all those cooking classes, dance lessons, golf lessons, crafting, books and spas your tweens signed up for are all examples of businesses that cater to this market.   American retailer Five Below tapped into this market by launching over 49 stores across America offering products for tweens at $5 or less.  The business concept aimed to take advantage of the spending power that tweens have by establishing product lines that tweens are interested in, and can actually afford at the price of $5 without having to ask their parents. 

4. Pet-related products and services – there are over 200 million dogs and cats in North America. Consumers often consider their pets furry children and are willing to spend money on them.  Hot areas of growth include services such as pet walking and pet sitting, special gourmet food treats and specialized medical care for pets such as chemotherapy and dental cleanings.  Alysa Binder and her husband Dan Wiesel tapped into this market when they created Pet Airways to enable pets to travel across Canada and the US more comfortably.

5. Internet-based businesses – the rise of internet-based home businesses will continue.  Affiliate marketing means promoting other companies’ products and services on your website and getting paid a commission when a sale is made.  Blogs are date-ordered websites filled with articles, reviews or journal-style writing.  You can sell advertising space on your website, or incorporate affiliate marketing on a blog to earn money.  e-Bay or auction selling involves the sale or resale of products through an online marketplace such as e-Bay, Amazon Auctions or Craigslist.  Freelance services involve marketing your professional services such as copywriting, editing, illustration, photography and computer programming skills through your website.  These are all rising in popularity as the general public becomes more technologically savvy.  Heather Hilleren benefited from this popularity when she created LocalDirt.com, a Madison, Wisconsin-based company whose web application saves farmers, markets, restaurants and the public time and hassle finding locally-grown food.

6. Affordable luxuries - rather than changing their overall spending habits and becoming thrifty, consumers are trading down to cheaper luxury products to cheer themselves up.  The trend is clearly seen in soaring sales figures from the world's large cosmetic firms including Shiseido, L'Oréal and Estée Lauder.  Affordable luxuries include products such as perfumes, belts, glasses and sunglasses, small ticket jewellery, shoes and handbags, wines and chocolates. Affordable luxury goods are on the same level as luxury products in consumer’s minds.  Brothers Skip and Steve Robbins capitalized on this idea, transforming their family business Robbins Bros. into a store that sells only engagement rings.  With 15 locations in the US, they are believed to control 22% of the engagement ring market.  Oh, and you can get a table at a restaurant, plan a trip and get your dog walked while you shop.

7. Seniors’ services – thanks to the baby boom, 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 home health care, to services that drive elders to appointments.  ElderDepot.com took advantage of this market by launching a website that offers assisted living products for purchase online.  Other examples include HOJO, SeniorStore and Mather’s – More than a Cafe (a US chain of cafes designed for connecting seniors).

8. Personal services – All types of personal services will grow in popularity in the next decade as we cope with spending more time at work and less time at home. People will be more willing to spend reasonable amounts of money to have others do personal tasks for them such as gardening, house cleaning, buying gifts, preparing meals, and pick-up and delivery services for kids, pets, and elders.

9. 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 facecard – 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. 

10. 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.