diff --git a/start.sh b/start.sh
index f312202..1c0a82e 100644
--- a/start.sh
+++ b/start.sh
@@ -1,14 +1,28 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/bin/sh
 set -e
 
-# Start Next.js admin panel in background on port 3000
-HOSTNAME="0.0.0.0" PORT=3000 node /app/server.js &
+cd /app
 
-# Optional: small log so you know it started
-echo "Started Next.js admin on :3000" >&2
+echo "Contents of /app:"
+ls
 
-# Wait a bit so proxy doesn't hit it before it's listening
+if [ ! -f server.js ]; then
+  echo "ERROR: /app/server.js not found. Check your Docker COPY paths."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "Starting Next.js admin on :3000..."
+HOSTNAME="0.0.0.0" PORT=3000 NODE_ENV=production node server.js &
+NODE_PID=$!
+
+# Give Next.js a moment to boot
 sleep 3
 
-# Start Go API (uses PORT env from Dokku, defaults to 5000)
+# If Node crashed immediately, bail out so you can see the logs
+if ! kill -0 "$NODE_PID" 2>/dev/null; then
+  echo "ERROR: Next.js server process exited. Check logs above for stack trace."
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "Starting Go API on :${PORT:-5000}..."
 exec /app/api