diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 92805ea..ae5f94d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,6 +8,16 @@ This microservice houses endpoints for the following functions:
 4. CRUD operations on `Comic` model
 5. Helper utils to help with image metadata extraction, file operations and more.
 
+## Local Development
+
+1. You need `calibre` in your local path
+   On `macOS` you can `brew install calibre` and make sure that `ebook-meta` is present on the path
+2. You need `mongo` for the data store. on `macOS` you can use [these instructions](https://docs.mongodb.com/manual/tutorial/install-mongodb-on-os-x/) to install it
+3. Clone this repo
+4. Run `npm i`
+5. Assuming you installed mongo correctly, run `MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/threetwo npm run dev`
+6. You should see the service spin up and a list of all the endpoints in the terminal
+7. The service can be accessed through `http://localhost/api/import/*`
 ## Docker Instructions
 
 1. Build the image using `docker build . -t frishi/threetwo-import-service`. Give it a hot minute.