More than one-quarter of the businesses on this year’s Franchise 500 list can be started for $50,000 or less.

Entrepreneur Magazine whittled that list down to 10 highly ranked franchises with start-up costs of $20,000 or less.

Experts caution that super-cheap franchises are often home based and don’t offer a strong support network, so investors must be highly motivated in order to turn a significant profit. Here is Entrepreneur’s top 10 list of ultra-low-cost franchises:

Cruise Planners/American Express, the cheapest startup on the list, costs $1,595 for those with industry expertise. Those new to the industry would need to put down about $10,000. Pluses: Businesses can usually be up and running within six weeks, and the American Express name gives you instant credibility.

Jazzercise, which opened more than 930 new franchises in 2009, topped the fitness category. A Jazzercise franchise can cost as little as $2,980 to start up.

Express Tax – lowest starting cost $6,500

Coffee News – lowest starting cost $8,925

Jani-King — lowest starting cost $11,400

United Country Real Estate – lowest starting cost $11,790

Kinderdance Int’l Inc. – lowest starting cost $14,950

American Poolplayers Assn. – lowest starting cost $17,360

Snap-on Tools – lowest starting cost $17,619

Novus Glass – lowest starting cost $18,900

This article was submitted by Katie Kapler, Director of Online Strategy for Biz2Credit. Biz2Credit is a small business marketplace that connects entrepreneurs with financing options and advice to grow their business. Send all questions to katie.kapler@biz2credit.com

The first week of March provided little to be happy about for investors with terrible job news and a still-volatile Wall Street hitting a low not seen since 1997.

“Stocks rose, fell, then clawed their way back to a mixed close after the Labor Department released its February jobs report,” MSNBC.com said in a March 6 story. “But while the market finished well above its lows — the Dow Jones industrials had a modest gain after falling more than 120 points — many market watchers say there’s no reason stocks can’t slide further, even as the major indexes are near 12-year lows.”

Contributing to that downward pressure is that big institutional investors are still sitting on the sidelines, MSNBC.com said, leaving the market to the far more volatile actions of short sellers, who buy stock on borrowed cash and bet for the price to go down.

“The shorts are having a complete field day in this environment,” Kent Engelke, managing director at Capital Securities Management in Glen Allen, Va., told the Web site. “Right now you have everybody so fearful, and these shorts are controlling the market.”

The worst news of the week came with February jobs numbers — worse than analysts expected, but not as bad as some investors had feared, MSNBC.com said.

“Employers cut 651,000 jobs last month, and the unemployment rate jumped to 8.1 percent, MSNBC.com said. The government also revised its December and January job loss figures up to 681,000 and 655,000, respectively.”

The Dow was down 6.2 percent for the week, marking its lowest point since the spring of 1997.

There have been gains in the market, but the overall slide has been too far and too fast for a small rally to make a difference.

“When you get this precipitous of a fall, you are always due for some sort of rally, but a rally will be unsustainable,” Jeff Buetow, senior portfolio manager at Portfolio Management Consultants told MSNBC.com.