In a world increasingly dominated by interconnective technology, emerging industries are creating new markets and investment opportunities almost every day. Capitalising on these new, fast growing business opportunities by investing or starting your own business is a surefire way to success; assuming you do the work too.

Here are three of the biggest growth industries to get into in 2017:

Cosmetic procedures & plastic surgery

Cosmetic procedures were reported to be the fastest growing medical procedures in 2016. It’s an industry that’s expected to rise to over US$27 billion by 2019, driven by the new trend in A-list celebrities openly advocating lip augmentation, cheek sculpting and tummy tucks. Its one of the biggest growing markets and a very profitable one.

Lip augmentation, dermal fillers, and other non-surgical procedures are becoming particularly popular. These are not overly expensive for the patient, and can be carried out quickly by clinics. The profit margins are significant too, making them highly valuable as a new investment.

It’s no surprise then that comparison sites, such as WhatClinic, have spring up, listing lip augmentation clinics by country and city. With accompanying ratings, reviews, contact details and procedure overviews, online directories are invaluable advertising spaces giving direct access to your target market. They will also give you an insight in the competition you’ll find in certain areas, allowing you to better market your own clinic.

Corporate wellness

Corporate wellness is the workplace health initiative designed to support healthy behaviour at work. It aims to improve health and promote a more positive lifestyle. Following a similar trend for health and beauty, the corporate wellness industry has seen significant boom in recent years to US$6 billion in the US alone, with promising growth set to continue into 2017.

According to research, employers are willing to spend as much as $693 per employee on wellness-based incentives. While some companies manage their own in-house corporate wellness programs, it is more common for companies to outsource to professionals with the dedicated expertise.

Making a move into the sector as a dedicated wellness consultant, health risk assessor or provider of corporate fitness programs is a more lucrative endeavour than ever before. It’s good news, too, that the capital required to start a corporate wellness business is not substantial, and there’s a wide scope of services to offer.

If you’re looking to get involved, create partnerships with the medical and business communities. Word spreads fast among these communities and their network connections are invaluable, so pitching yourself as their choice corporate wellness provider will be very financially rewarding.

Biometric identity verification technologies

New interest in biometric scanning, or methods of recognising a person based on a physiological characteristics, such as fingerprint, facial or iris-scanning technologies, as well as voice and handwriting analysis is set to see ever more applications in 2017. This rise in popularity is expected to make the sector worth as much as almost US$50 billion by 2022.

Biometric and identity technologies have been becoming more common in recent years, especially at border security. Additionally, eCommerce and hospitals are some of the most likely places where these identity check softwares can bring more accurate and reliable systems in the future.

There’s no end to the applications for biometric scanning solutions, meaning you only have to be quick to respond to demand to do well in this industry.

One group of entrepreneurs is currently developing a steering wheel cover that can detect blood alcohol levels through the skin on your hands and immobilise a car in it’s parking spot if high levels are detected.

Getting started in biometric engineering doesn’t necessarily take a degree in computer science or a related field. Rather, growth in purchases of biometric readers is expected to grow by a rate of 48% between 2011 and 2018, meaning the focus is on generating innovative applications for the software and marketing those solutions. This makes biometrics a great investment opportunity, even if you don’t have the skills to create you own software.

It’s a new and exciting field, swept up in the development of artificial intelligence and the internet of things. As smart technologies infiltrate our lives and homes, it’s a big business to be a part of.