diff --git a/xos/configurations/cord-pod/Makefile b/xos/configurations/cord-pod/Makefile
index bf8cdc4..6911818 100644
--- a/xos/configurations/cord-pod/Makefile
+++ b/xos/configurations/cord-pod/Makefile
@@ -5,11 +5,16 @@
 BOOTSTRAP_PROJECT=cordpodbs
 
 .PHONY: xos
-xos: prereqs bootstrap download_services onboarding podconfig
+xos: prereqs dirs download_services bootstrap onboarding podconfig
 
 prereqs:
 	sudo make -f ../common/Makefile.prereqs
 
+dirs:
+	# if this directory doesn't exist, then docker-compose will create it with root permission
+	mkdir -p key_import
+	mkdir -p onboarding-docker-compose
+
 bootstrap:
 	echo "[BOOTSTRAP]"
 	sudo rm -f onboarding-docker-compose/docker-compose.yml