Eleven years ago, my mom started a boutique rental company offering one-of-a-kind vintage decor and table settings for weddings and events. Today, I handle the business’s day-to-day operations. Running a small business in California isn’t for the faint of heart — especially in today’s economy — but we love creating unforgettable events for our clients.
Unfortunately, lawmakers may soon pass sweeping legislation, Assembly Bill 1776, that could make it even tougher for us to operate here in California. AB 1776 would make offering integrated tools, like HubSpot or Microsoft 365, an “anticompetitive practice.” The bill is aimed at large companies, but it’s likely to break apart many of the affordable, efficient digital tools that help small businesses like mine compete and succeed. By some estimates, AB 1776’s passage could cost California small businesses an average of $16,000 in lost sales every year — jeopardizing some $356 billion in sales over the next five years.
Here’s an example of how that would happen. Right now, when someone searches online for our business, our Google Business Profile pops up showing helpful information, including a map to our location, customer reviews, and a link to our website. That’s convenient for customers, and a great marketing tool for us — and it’s free.
But if AB 1776 passed, the state of California could sue Google, arguing that Business Profiles unfairly favors Google’s products over competitors.’ That could force Google to break apart Profiles, resulting in a disjointed search experience that confuses customers, reduces our visibility, and hurts our sales. On top of that, rival service providers like Yelp often charge for features that Google offers for free, like adding a “book an appointment” or “make a reservation” button. In short, AB 1776 means small California businesses are likely to end up paying more for less effective tools.
That would make it harder for California’s small businesses to compete with rivals based in other states. That’s because thousands of us use integrated digital tools like Google’s AI-powered Performance Max ads to try to win customers across the country. If those tools were broken up, we’d have to patch together services that would likely be less efficient and more expensive than the integrated tools we currently have. But our competitors in other states would still have those tools, so we’d find ourselves at a huge disadvantage.
In fact, another worry is that AB 1776 would discourage tech companies from offering new integrated AI-powered tools to California businesses. In the short term, that would threaten our access to super-efficient AI tools that help us manage inventory and create marketing materials. In the longer term — as businesses in other states moved forward with integrated AI tools — California businesses would fall behind.
I don’t understand why lawmakers would want to make it legally risky for companies to offer new efficiencies, savings, and technologies that help small businesses succeed. That’s terrible for small businesses, and would probably exacerbate the state’s business exodus and damage its economy.
Given that California small businesses already face so many serious challenges — including sky-high gas prices, rising labor costs, and a tangle of red tape — it’s baffling that lawmakers would try to pass legislation that’s likely to raise costs, reduce efficiency, and make it harder for small businesses to thrive.
California small businesses need smart laws that help us make the most of today’s integrated digital tools and allow us to grow and compete — not radical policies that jeopardize our future.
Aly Henderson is the co-owner of San Clemente-based wedding and event rental boutique Sundrop Vintage.