Yes, I would happily give VG flack for the lying about your age comment as that constitutes fraud, too. However, as it is also illegal to ask someone's age for the purpose of employment, your being coy about it is okay. Maybe "I'm 31. . .if you're counting in base 7." Or, "I'm 8, but I'm really really smart." My experience has been, though, if you don't start out apologizing for it, or even bringing it up, it may be an issue only to people who don't want to hire you anyway.

And, bouncing off VG's comment about his father's participation, I'd recommend making someone over 18 the "straw man"-- the nominal business owner. This is not at all unusual and will save you and your parents or guardians endless headaches in the long run.

Now, back to goals for a sec. If you start now and plan to run this business as a summer job, that gives you about 4 months to explore, right? So, I recommend you use that time to give yourself financial and a number-of-projects goal. Maybe, by 31 August you will have:

• identified 25 businesses or people who could use your services*
• completed 10 projects
• earned $750 from this venture

*you'd probably have to complete this earlier, as you'll not only have to identify potential clients but also contact them and convince them to hire you.

Is this doable? If not, adjust. You may also find you need to alter your the goals as you proceed.