🏡 What does it actually cost a small business to lose its building? Andrea and George Savard — co-owners of Firepower Training in Milton — spent 10 years navigating an expropriation that reshaped their business, their finances, and their view of the town they helped build. In this episode, Steve sits down with the Savards (George is also a 28-year Toronto firefighter) to unpack their journey from a Cambridge boxing gym to commercial ownership, multi-residential investing, and back to leasing — and what they learned the hard way about real estate, town politics, and building a business worth selling.
✅ Why a member list isn’t a sellable business
✅ The $500K mistake their ego almost cost them
✅ What expropriation actually feels like (vs. what you’re told)
✅ Lease vs. own commercial real estate — the honest pros and cons
✅ Self-managing a triplex and a 10-plex while running a full-time gym
✅ Why Milton’s small business owners feel pushed out
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0:00 – Intro
1:38 – Meet Andrea & George Savard from Firepower
4:42 – From Cambridge boxing gym to a Milton CrossFit + boxing hybrid
7:43 – The brick-and-mortar lesson: why a member list isn’t an asset
12:14 – A bad first landlord and the push toward ownership
13:37 – First brush with the “e-word”: expropriation rumors on Main Street
15:13 – Buying the Nipissing building (and the $500K ego lesson)
16:50 – Vision vs. the weeds: how a married couple actually runs a business
17:33 – When expropriation hits: “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy”
20:11 – Lease vs. own commercial real estate — honest trade-offs
21:48 – Running a triplex and a 10-plex on top of a full-time gym
23:39 – Why Milton doesn’t seem to want small businesses
27:00 – What’s next for Firepower: over-40 fitness and first responders
31:35 – Outro
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In 2011, Ariel Kormendy and Adrian Trott formed The Kormendy Trott Team, now often referred to as KT (thanks to our logo!). The foundation of KT is built on providing unmatched value and attention to detail in everything we do. From our ever-expanding, comprehensive list of exclusive services to our expertly trained team, you will receive the highest level of care throughout your entire real estate journey.
Originally a team of two in Milton, Ontario, the KT Team has grown into a large team of exceptional REALTORS®, a client-care department, and now includes KT Media, KT Commercial, and our sister company, Renti, allowing us to provide our clients with a complete lineup of genuine, professional, and proven services across Halton Region, Peel Region and the surrounding Regions within the Greater Toronto Area.
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