Tommy Lim, the 423rd person I’ve met on my quest to have lunch with 500 strangers, is an analytical powerhouse who enjoys helping his clients solve complex finance problems.

Tommy is the owner of SF Capital, a finance brokerage that specialises in working with self-employed borrowers, especially those with complex scenarios.

When Tommy founded SF Capital in 2013, he initially focused on more ‘vanilla’ home loans clients. After a while, though, he realised that his analytical mind – which allows him to pore over financial documents, assess complex scenarios and devise creative solutions – was better suited to small business owners with different needs.

Tommy developed a love of personal finance when he was in high school, but initially had different career plans. He studied law and finance at university, before becoming a management consultant. He enjoyed the work, but had one big frustration – he had no control over his time.

One way to get more autonomy is to found your own business. Tommy was only 27 when he launched SF Capital, but was at a stage of his life – before marriage and fatherhood – when he could take more risks. Tommy chose broking not only because of his love of personal finance, but also because he’d done a lot of consulting work with banking clients and because his first serious job (while at uni) was working for a mortgage broker.

As the saying goes, the best thing about being a business owner is you get to decide which 80 hours of the week you work. Tommy now has the autonomy to have lunch with strangers whenever he wants, but works hard to build a successful business the rest of the time.