Built To Last, Not To Be Sold
A company built for a quick exit makes quick decisions: raise the prices, cut the support, squeeze the customer. We make the opposite choice. HappyChef is built to still be here in twenty years, and every decision is measured against that, not against the next quarter.
You Pay Once, It Stays Yours
A forever company does not need to rent you your own tools. The Owner licence is paid once, updates are included and the licence goes with the restaurant when you sell it. We earn our living by building something worth owning, not by making it expensive to leave.
Profit Serves The Product
We earn what we need to keep building, and no more. No commission per reservation, no fee per guest, no surprises on the invoice. When we have a good year, the result is a better product and a fair price, not a bigger margin.
Your Guests And Your Data Are Yours
The guests who book with you are your guests, not ours. We do not sell your guest data, we do not use your guests to advertise to your competitors, and we will never hold your data hostage if you decide to leave.
The People Who Use It Have A Say
Restaurants know best what a reservation system should do. That is why owners vote on what we build next in the Owners' Council, and why I answer questions myself. A forever company keeps listening, because the day it stops is the day it starts to fade.
Generosity Is Part Of The Plan
A company that wants to last should leave things better than it found them. For every digital gift card sold we give one euro to Alzheimer research, and every transfer is published with its bank statement on our donations page. Every euro is named.
A Real Person Answers
Growth must never turn us into a company nobody can reach. I answer the phone myself today, and as we grow a real person will always be one call away. If we ever cannot offer that, we have grown the wrong way.
What We Already Do About It
Start is free forever: unlimited reservations, table plan, gift vouchers and confirmation emails, no card needed. The Owner licence costs €1,500, once. No monthly fee, and updates are included. The licence is transferable: it goes with the restaurant when you sell it. 0% commission on every reservation and no fee per guest, ever. A 90-day money-back guarantee on every purchase. Owners vote on what we build next in the Owners' Council. One euro of every digital gift card goes to Alzheimer research. €1,301 has been transferred so far, with every bank statement online. I answer the phone myself.
What You May Wonder
What Is A Forever Company?
A company built to last for generations instead of being built to be sold. It earns its living by serving the same customers well for a very long time, so it can afford to be fair, patient and generous.
Can A Software Company Really Promise To Be Here Forever?
Nobody can promise the future, and I will not pretend otherwise. What we can do is make the choices that make it likely: sell something you own instead of something you rent, stay profitable without squeezing you, and keep what we do in the open. This letter is how we hold ourselves to that.
Why Not Take Investor Money And Grow Faster?
Money for fast growth usually comes with an exit in mind, and an exit means selling the company. We prefer to grow at the pace our restaurants make possible.
How Can I Hold You To This?
Everything on this page is public. The prices are on one page, the donations and their bank statements on another, and owners vote in the Owners' Council. If we ever drift away from this letter, tell me. I pick up the phone.
Thibault Van de SompeleFounder of HappyChef