diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/README.rst b/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/README.rst
index ca19550..9025e6f 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/README.rst
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/README.rst
@@ -15,30 +15,29 @@ add the following to ``.bashrc`` or ``.bash_profile``.
 
     export {{cookiecutter.app_name | upper}}_SECRET='something-really-secret'
 
-Before running shell commands, set the ``FLASK_APP`` and ``FLASK_DEBUG``
-environment variables ::
-
-    export FLASK_APP=/path/to/autoapp.py
-    export FLASK_DEBUG=1
-
-Then run the following commands to bootstrap your environment ::
+Run the following commands to bootstrap your environment ::
 
     git clone https://github.com/{{cookiecutter.github_username}}/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}
     cd {{cookiecutter.app_name}}
     pip install -r requirements/dev.txt
     npm install
-    npm start  # run the webpack dev server
-    flask run  # run the flask server
+    npm start  # run the webpack dev server and flask server using concurrently
 
 You will see a pretty welcome screen.
 
+In general, before running shell commands, set the ``FLASK_APP`` and
+``FLASK_DEBUG`` environment variables ::
+
+    export FLASK_APP=/path/to/autoapp.py
+    export FLASK_DEBUG=1
+
 Once you have installed your DBMS, run the following to create your app's
 database tables and perform the initial migration ::
 
     flask db init
     flask db migrate
     flask db upgrade
-    flask run
+    npm start
 
 
 Deployment
@@ -47,8 +46,8 @@ Deployment
 To deploy::
 
     export FLASK_DEBUG=0
-    npm run build
-    flask run
+    npm run build   # build assets with webpack
+    flask run       # start the flask server
 
 In your production environment, make sure the ``FLASK_DEBUG`` environment
 variable is unset or is set to ``0``, so that ``ProdConfig`` is used.
diff --git a/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/package.json b/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/package.json
index 469f30b..b312ad8 100644
--- a/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/package.json
+++ b/{{cookiecutter.app_name}}/package.json
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@
   },
   "scripts": {
     "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1",
-    "start": "./node_modules/.bin/webpack-dev-server --port 2992 --hot --inline",
     "build": "NODE_ENV=production ./node_modules/.bin/webpack --progress --colors -p",
+    "start": "NODE_ENV=debug FLASK_APP=$PWD/autoapp.py FLASK_DEBUG=1 ./node_modules/.bin/concurrently \"./node_modules/.bin/webpack-dev-server --port 2992 --hot --inline\" \"flask run\"",
     "lint": "eslint \"assets/js/*.js\""
   },
   "repository": {
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
     "babel-eslint": "^7.2.3",
     "babel-loader": "^7.0.0",
     "babel-preset-es2015": "^6.24.1",
+    "concurrently": "^3.5.0",
     "css-loader": "^0.28.4",
     "eslint": "^3.19.0",
     "eslint-config-airbnb-base": "^11.2.0",