diff --git a/init b/init
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..25422c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/init
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "$0" )" && pwd )"
+NEEDS="needs to be installed through your distro's package manager"
+
+if ! whereis python3 | grep "/"; then
+    echo "python3" $NEEDS
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! whereis pip3 | grep "/"; then
+    echo "pip3" $NEEDS
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! whereis pdflatex | grep "/"; then
+    echo "texlive" $NEEDS
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+commands=(
+    "python3 -m venv $SCRIPT_DIR/.venv"
+    "source .venv/bin/activate"
+    "pip3 install -r requirements.txt"
+)
+
+for com in "${commands[@]}"; do
+    if ! $com; then
+        echo "UnderCover Init Failed!"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+done
+
+echo "UnderCover Init Succeeded!"
+touch $SCRIPT_DIR/.undercover_init_successful
diff --git a/start b/start
index 38e6867..f41aac8 100755
--- a/start
+++ b/start
@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "$0" )" && pwd )"
 
-if ! pip -V | grep "$SCRIPT_DIR/venv"; then
+if ! test -f "$SCRIPT_DIR/.undercover_init_successful"; then
+    if ! $SCRIPT_DIR/init; then
+        exit 1
+    fi
+fi
+
+if ! pip -V | grep "$SCRIPT_DIR/.venv"; then
     echo "Entering virtual environment..."
-    source $SCRIPT_DIR/venv/bin/activate
+    source $SCRIPT_DIR/.venv/bin/activate
 fi
 
 if [[ "$1" == "prod" ]]; then