diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index cfac4e0..6ccdb82 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 start:
+	@test "`docker-compose ps | wc -l`" -le "2" || (echo -e "/!\\ already running environment\n"; exit 1);
 	@echo "> [1] pre-start script";
 	@bash ./metactl/pre-start.sh && echo "< done" || (echo "< failed"; exit 1);
 	@echo;
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ start:
 	@bash ./metactl/post-start.sh && echo "< done" || (echo "< failed"; exit 1);
 
 start-no-cache:
+	@test "`docker-compose ps | wc -l`" -le "2" || (echo -e "/!\\ already running environment\n"; exit 1);
 	@echo "> [1] pre-start script";
 	@bash ./metactl/pre-start.sh && echo "< done" || (echo "< failed"; exit 1);
 	@echo;
@@ -19,6 +21,7 @@ start-no-cache:
 	@bash ./metactl/post-start.sh && echo "< done" || (echo "< failed"; exit 1);
 
 stop:
+	@test "`docker-compose ps | wc -l`" -gt "2" || (echo -e "/!\\ no running environment\n"; exit 1);
 	@echo "> [1] pre-stop script";
 	@bash ./metactl/pre-stop.sh && echo "< done" || (echo "< failed"; exit 1);
 	@echo;