diff --git a/.github/workflows/cargo-test.yaml b/.github/workflows/cargo-test.yaml
index 0908a0d6..ec4293e5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cargo-test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cargo-test.yaml
@@ -36,9 +36,6 @@ jobs:
           services: |
             sqlserver
 
-      - name: Load Chinook data
-        run: sqlcmd -S localhost,64003 -U SA -P "Password!" -i "./static/chinook-sqlserver.sql"
-
       - name: run tests
         run: |
           cargo test --release --workspace
diff --git a/docker-compose.yaml b/docker-compose.yaml
index c2979806..493166fd 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ services:
     platform: linux/amd64
     ports:
       - 64003:1433
+    command: bash -c "/docker/entrypoint.sh"
     environment:
       ACCEPT_EULA: "Y"
       MSSQL_PID: "Developer"
@@ -14,8 +15,13 @@ services:
     volumes:
       - /var/opt/mssql
       - type: bind
+        read_only: true
         source: ./static
         target: /static
+      - type: bind
+        read_only: true
+        source: ./docker
+        target: /docker
     healthcheck:
       test:
         - CMD-SHELL
diff --git a/docker/entrypoint.sh b/docker/entrypoint.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..aeb1bf5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/entrypoint.sh
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/docker/import-chinook.sh & /opt/mssql/bin/sqlservr
diff --git a/docker/import-chinook.sh b/docker/import-chinook.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..3e8eb15e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/import-chinook.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#run the setup script to create the DB and the schema in the DB
+#do this in a loop because the timing for when the SQL instance is ready is indeterminate
+
+PASSWORD="Password!"
+
+for i in {1..50};
+do
+    /opt/mssql-tools/bin/sqlcmd -S localhost -U sa -P "${PASSWORD}" -i /static/chinook-sqlserver.sql
+    if [ $? -eq 0 ]
+    then
+        echo "setup.sql completed"
+        break
+    else
+        echo "not ready yet..."
+        sleep 1
+    fi
+done
+
diff --git a/justfile b/justfile
index 5f088dbb..36b73bd4 100644
--- a/justfile
+++ b/justfile
@@ -88,10 +88,7 @@ test-integrated:
 
 # run sqlserver
 start-dependencies:
-  # start sqlserver
-  docker compose down -v sqlserver
   docker compose up --wait sqlserver
-  docker exec -it ndc-sqlserver-sqlserver-1 /opt/mssql-tools/bin/sqlcmd -S localhost,1433 -U SA -P "Password!" -i "/static/chinook-sqlserver.sql"
 
 # run prometheus + grafana
 start-metrics: