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Want to start your own business? Here are the top industries in 2016

Gyms are less crowded, the Christmas lights have finally come down, and you’ve even gotten used to writing "2016." We are firmly in the new year. And for those of you who resolved to start your own business this year, you'd better get going.

And while starting a business is tough (80% of new businesses fail within their first 18 months), there are certain industries that are easier to break into than others.

Graham Winfrey of Inc. Magazine spoke to Yahoo Finance to identify up-and-coming sectors that potential entrepreneurs might want to explore.

Virtual Reality

This year will be the breakout year for virtual reality, says Graham. Consumers are expected to purchase millions of VR headsets as well as cheaper cardboard-based displays that work with smartphones. “The technology has finally caught up,” he says.

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While VR will continue to expand into the world of news and entertainment, it will also break into new industries such as education, military, healthcare, engineering, and architecture.

The industry is hot. At the end of 2015, VR companies had raised $630 million in funding, up from $70 million in 2010. According to Piper Jaffray, the hardware market could be worth $62 billion by 2020.

Artificial Intelligence

An oft-cited report by the World Economic Forum says that 51 million jobs could be obliterated by Artificial Intelligence. If that’s true, it’s probably best to work for the robots instead of against them. “AI is not so much an industry as a technology that’s going to change a lot of industries,” says Winfrey.

Venture capitalists invested $309 million in AI startups in 2014, up from $15 million in 2010, that’s more than 20 times more. There were only two AI startups in 2010 and 16 in 2014—the industry is growing rapidly. There are, however, many barriers to entry in the business—an advanced computer science degree being one of them.

Drone Manufacturing

Drones are big business—about $3.3 billion big. And the industry is expected to grow 5.8% annually until 2020. While military drones have been around for some time, the use of commercial drones is just beginning—from delivery to film to scientific research. The number of industries that can benefit from drone is seemingly infinite.

The only barrier to entry is FAA approval, but that’s expected to be finalized soon. “The consensus is that when the FAA finalizes the regulations this year that the industry will really take off for commercial drones,” says Winfrey.

Want more? Check out Inc. Mag’s annual "The Best Industries for Starting a Business in 2016"