to guarantee the repayment and the profits, you may be able to get an investor to accept the return of her investment plus a reasonable profit of 20% or 30% on her investment, within a year or two time frame. Most entrepreneurs with the ability and assets to offer a guarantee can secure financing at a lower cost from more conventional sources. Perhaps they can pledge their assets for a straight bank loan or sell their assets and obtain money that way.           If you are starting a new business and do not plan to guarantee the return of the investment, youll almost always need to offer investors a high possible return. If you dont put up any money, investors may expect as much as 75% of the profits. You, the promoter, may get as little as 25% of the profits plus a reasonable salary for your work to make the project go. Of course, it is rare that a person who starts a business doesnt invest at least some of his own money, so the investors percentage would normally be adjusted downward.     Another alternative for a start-up business where investors bear the entire risk of loss is for the founder to work in the business on a daily basis and receive a small wage as a project expense. The first profits are used to pay back all the money advanced. Profits are split on an agreed percentage. If the investor puts up all the money, this might be 50/50; if the investor puts up less, his share should also be less. Sometimes these profit splits terminate after a specific number of years, and sometimes they continue indefinitely. Occasionally, the parties agree on a formula to establish a price for which one party may buy out the other party in the future.     If youre expanding an established business, the returns can be adjusted toward normal bank loan rates if the expansion appears conservative. Investment profits will have to be considerably higher than bank rates if the project appears risky. The main thing that increases risk for an established business is changing its normal course of business. For example, an established employee leasing company that plans to expand its receivables in the face of increasing demand is more conservative than the same company that plans to open a new office in another state. Its a higher risk if the same company plans to enter a completely new line of business, such as management consulting.     b. Legal Forms of Owning Equity Investments     An equity investor chooses among three options in sharing ownership in your small business. These are the only options available, even if the consideration for the ownership share is something other than cash, such as labor, materials and so forth:     General partnerships. A general partner joins you in owning the business. He shares in your profits and losses in proportion to his partnership share. General partnerships work best when all partners work full-time in the business. Equity investors normally prefer not to become general partners, because they dont want day-to-day involvement in your business. Also, by law, if the partnership loses money, the investing general partner must pay back part or all of the losses. Everybody has heard stories of partnerships that went sour, with dire consequences. These were usually general partnerships. If you are interested in forming a partnership, limited or general, or learning more about them, see The Partnership Book, by Denis Clifford and Ralph Warner (Nolo).     Limited partnerships. This arrangement is a form of business organization under which you as governed by state and federal regulations.     What are the advantages of a limited partnership to you as the entrepreneur? First, investors are