Nikonomics - The Economics of Small Business 302 - Best of 2025! Roll-Ups vs. Holdcos: Understanding the Key Differences and Benefits with Dzmitry Miranovich
May 7, 2026
Dzmitry Miranovich, a roll-up founder consolidating 20+ veterinary clinics, explains why he chose the roll-up path and what makes an industry ripe for consolidation. He contrasts roll-ups and holdcos. Short takes cover market fragmentation, calculating consolidation runway, the critical first acquisition, JV models, and the operational playbook needed to scale clinics successfully.
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Roll-Ups Require Deep Industry Focus
- Roll-ups buy many similar businesses to build deep operational expertise and unlock synergies.
- Dzmitry contrasts holdcos as inch deep/mile wide and roll-ups as inch wide/mile deep, focusing on same-industry GP vet clinics to scale operations.
Measure Fragmentation Using Addressable Targets
- Evaluate fragmentation by the addressable subset you can realistically acquire, not the total count of businesses.
- Narrow to acquirable clinics (size, viability) and ignore tiny sole-operator shops that will never be bought.
Quantify Consolidation Runway With Simple Math
- Calculate runway for consolidation by dividing unconsolidated addressable units by annual units sold.
- Example: (10,000 addressable − 3,000 consolidated) ÷ 500 sales per year ≈ 14 years of runway.