diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fb03365..88e6fe5 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ build/
 venv/
 .venv/
 env/
-
+docs/
 # Node
 node_modules/
 frontend/dist/
diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index b44a8f4..db0d0cd 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -48,5 +48,5 @@ EXPOSE 5000
 HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=10s --retries=3 \
     CMD curl -f http://localhost:5000/api/health || exit 1
 
-# Run with Gunicorn
-CMD ["gunicorn", "--bind", "0.0.0.0:5000", "--workers", "4", "--timeout", "120", "wsgi:app"]
+# Run with Gunicorn (--preload ensures DB tables are created once before forking workers)
+CMD ["gunicorn", "--bind", "0.0.0.0:5000", "--workers", "4", "--timeout", "120", "--preload", "wsgi:app"]
diff --git a/backend/app/services/stripe_service.py b/backend/app/services/stripe_service.py
index 1441f01..74164d9 100644
--- a/backend/app/services/stripe_service.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/stripe_service.py
@@ -19,6 +19,13 @@ def _ensure_stripe_columns():
     """Add stripe_customer_id and stripe_subscription_id columns if missing."""
     conn = _connect()
     try:
+        # Check that users table exists before altering it
+        table_exists = conn.execute(
+            "SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' AND name='users'"
+        ).fetchone()
+        if table_exists is None:
+            return
+
         cols = [row["name"] for row in conn.execute("PRAGMA table_info(users)").fetchall()]
         if "stripe_customer_id" not in cols:
             conn.execute("ALTER TABLE users ADD COLUMN stripe_customer_id TEXT")