diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f31a9c8742e..c1b2f1c3ca8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -170,6 +170,13 @@ endif
 ###                           Tests & Simulation                            ###
 ###############################################################################
 
+# make init-simapp initializes a single local node network
+# it is useful for testing and development
+# Usage: make install && make init-simapp && simd start
+# Warning: make init-simapp will remove all data in simapp home directory
+init-simapp:
+	./scripts/init-simapp.sh
+
 test: test-unit
 test-all: test-unit test-ledger-mock test-race test-cover
 
diff --git a/scripts/init-simapp.sh b/scripts/init-simapp.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000000..722a86d2a52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/init-simapp.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+SIMD_BIN=${SIMD_BIN:=$(which simd 2>/dev/null)}
+
+if [ -z "$SIMD_BIN" ]; then echo "SIMD_BIN is not set. Make sure to run make install before"; exit 1; fi
+echo "using $SIMD_BIN"
+if [ -d "$($SIMD_BIN config home)" ]; then rm -r $($SIMD_BIN config home); fi
+$SIMD_BIN config set client chain-id simapp-1
+$SIMD_BIN config set client keyring-backend test
+$SIMD_BIN config set app api.enable true
+$SIMD_BIN keys add alice
+$SIMD_BIN keys add bob
+$SIMD_BIN init test --chain-id simapp-1
+$SIMD_BIN genesis add-genesis-account alice 5000000000stake --keyring-backend test
+$SIMD_BIN genesis add-genesis-account bob 5000000000stake --keyring-backend test
+$SIMD_BIN genesis gentx alice 1000000stake --chain-id simapp-1
+$SIMD_BIN genesis collect-gentxs
\ No newline at end of file