diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index bd725abb..59addb70 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,6 +2,11 @@ SHELL := /bin/bash
 DOCKER := $(shell which docker)
 DOCKER_COMPOSE := $(shell which docker-compose)
 
+ifeq ($(STANDALONE), 1)
+	BASE_COMMAND := docker-compose run lando
+else
+	BASE_COMMAND := docker exec -ti suite-lando-1
+endif
 
 .PHONY: help
 help:
@@ -11,38 +16,27 @@ help:
 	@echo
 	@echo "target is one of:"
 	@echo "    help        show this message and exit"
-	@echo "    build       build the docker image for lando"
 	@echo "    format      run ruff and black on source code"
 	@echo "    test        run the test suite"
 	@echo "    migrations  generates migration files to reflect model changes in the database"
-	@echo "    start       run the application"
-	@echo "    stop        stop the application"
 	@echo "    attach      attach for debugging (ctrl-p ctrl-q to detach)"
 
 .PHONY: test
 test:
-	docker-compose run lando lando tests
+	$(BASE_COMMAND) lando tests
 
 .PHONY: format 
 format:
-	docker-compose run lando lando format
-
-.PHONY: build 
-build:
-	docker-compose build
+	$(BASE_COMMAND) lando format
 
 .PHONY: migrations
 migrations:
-	docker-compose run lando lando makemigrations
-
-.PHONY: start
-start:
-	docker-compose up -d
-
-.PHONY: stop
-stop:
-	docker-compose down
+	$(BASE_COMMAND) lando makemigrations
 
 .PHONY: attach
 attach:
+ifeq ($(INSUITE), 1)
+	-@docker attach suite-lando-1 ||:
+else
 	-@docker-compose attach lando ||:
+endif
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 248e80bf..283becfb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -19,15 +19,21 @@ Lando is an application that applies patches and pushes them to Git and Mercuria
 * docker compose 
 
 ### Running the development server
+It is recommended to use "conduit suite" to interact with Lando on your local machine, however, it can also be run using docker-compose if needed.
 
-    make start
+    docker-compose up
 
 The above command will run any database migrations and start the development server and its dependencies.
 
-    make stop
+    docker-compose down
 
 The above command will shut down the containers running lando.
 
+## Specifying Suite or Stand-alone
+By default, make commands will assume you are running them in suite. This will run the commands in the lando container in the suite. If you want to explicitly run commands on a standalone Lando container (i.e., if you started the container via `docker-compose up` above), then set STANDALONE=1. For example:
+
+    STANDALONE=1 make test
+
 ## Testing
 
 To run the test suite, invoke the following command:
diff --git a/compose.yaml b/compose.yaml
index bdfe23a5..f9868f52 100644
--- a/compose.yaml
+++ b/compose.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-version: "3.8"
 services:
   db:
     image: postgres
diff --git a/src/lando/utils/management/commands/create_environment_repos.py b/src/lando/utils/management/commands/create_environment_repos.py
index 2f970996..d397b9e9 100644
--- a/src/lando/utils/management/commands/create_environment_repos.py
+++ b/src/lando/utils/management/commands/create_environment_repos.py
@@ -294,8 +294,12 @@ def handle(self, *args, **options):
             try:
                 repo = Repo.objects.create(**definition)
             except IntegrityError:
-                self.stderr.write(
-                    f"Repo {definition['name']} already exists, skipping."
+                self.stdout.write(
+                    self.style.WARNING(
+                        f"Repo {definition['name']} already exists, skipping."
+                    )
                 )
             else:
-                self.stdout.write(f"Created repo {repo.tree} ({repo.id}).")
+                self.stdout.write(
+                    self.style.SUCCESS(f"Created repo {repo.tree} ({repo.id}).")
+                )
diff --git a/src/lando/utils/management/commands/setup_dev.py b/src/lando/utils/management/commands/setup_dev.py
index b5a880be..e8a9a6de 100644
--- a/src/lando/utils/management/commands/setup_dev.py
+++ b/src/lando/utils/management/commands/setup_dev.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+from django.core.management import call_command
 from django.core.management.base import BaseCommand, CommandError
 
 from lando.environments import Environment
@@ -33,6 +34,12 @@ def setup_workers(self):
             # Associate all repos with applicable worker.
             self.stdout.write(f"Adding {repo} ({repo.scm}) to {workers[repo.scm]}.")
             workers[repo.scm].applicable_repos.add(repo)
+        self.stdout.write(
+            self.style.SUCCESS(
+                'Workers initialized ("hg" and "git"). '
+                "To start one, run `lando start_landing_worker <name>`.",
+            )
+        )
 
     def setup_users(self):
         """Ensure there is an administrator account on the local system."""
@@ -51,10 +58,20 @@ def setup_users(self):
         user.is_superuser = True
         user.is_staff = True
         user.save()
+        self.stdout.write(
+            self.style.SUCCESS(
+                "Superuser created with the following username and password: "
+                '"admin", "password".'
+            )
+        )
 
     def handle(self, *args, **options):
         if settings.ENVIRONMENT != Environment.local:
             raise CommandError("This script can only be run on a local environment.")
+        call_command("migrate")
+        call_command("create_environment_repos", Environment.local.value)
         self.setup_workers()
         self.setup_users()
-        self.stdout.write("Finished.")
+        self.stdout.write(
+            self.style.SUCCESS("Finished setting up local Lando environment.")
+        )