diff --git a/.DS_Store b/.DS_Store
deleted file mode 100644
index c88a062..0000000
Binary files a/.DS_Store and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c4454e9..2d0e91d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,17 +1,18 @@
+export VENV_PATH := .venv
 # Use python executables inside venv
-export PATH := .venv/bin:$(PATH)
+export PATH := $(VENV_PATH)/bin:$(PATH)
 export PYTHONPATH=.
 
 # creates the venv
-.venv/bin/python3.11:
-	python3.11 -m venv .venv
+$(VENV_PATH)/bin/python3.11:
+	python3.11 -m venv $(VENV_PATH)
 
 # makes sures the venv contains a given version of pip and pip-tools
-.venv: .venv/bin/python3.11
+$(VENV_PATH): $(VENV_PATH)/bin/python3.11
 	pip install --quiet --upgrade 'pip==23.3.1' 'pip-tools==7.3'
 
 # generates a lock file with pinned version of all dependencies to be used by the CI and local devs
-requirements/dev.txt: .venv requirements/dev.in pyproject.toml
+requirements/dev.txt: $(VENV_PATH) requirements/dev.in pyproject.toml
 	pip-compile \
 		--quiet --generate-hashes --max-rounds=20 --strip-extras \
 		--resolver=backtracking \
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ requirements/dev.txt: .venv requirements/dev.in pyproject.toml
 		 requirements/dev.in pyproject.toml
 
 # upgrades the dependencies to their latest/matching version
-upgrade: .venv
+upgrade: $(VENV_PATH)
 	pip-compile \
 		--quiet --generate-hashes --max-rounds=20 --strip-extras \
 		--upgrade \
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ upgrade: .venv
 
 # creates the venv if not present then install the dependencies, the package and pre-commit
 .PHONY: install
-install: .venv
+install: $(VENV_PATH)
 	pip-sync requirements/dev.txt
 	# install pylint_pytest (deps are already handled by the line before)
 	pip install --no-deps -e .