diff --git a/.changeset/two-rice-pull.md b/.changeset/two-rice-pull.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3c6138094d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/two-rice-pull.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+---
+'@backstage/backend-tasks': patch
+---
+
+Updated README to clarify the following:
+
+- Dashes cannot be used in the `id`, changed to an underscore in the example
+- The `timeout` is required, this was also added to the example
+- Added a note about tasks not running as expected for local development using persistent database
diff --git a/packages/backend-tasks/README.md b/packages/backend-tasks/README.md
index d3c361c02c..fe55f37afd 100644
--- a/packages/backend-tasks/README.md
+++ b/packages/backend-tasks/README.md
@@ -21,14 +21,19 @@ import { Duration } from 'luxon';
 const scheduler = TaskScheduler.fromConfig(rootConfig).forPlugin('my-plugin');
 
 await scheduler.scheduleTask({
-  id: 'refresh-things',
+  id: 'refresh_things',
   frequency: Duration.fromObject({ minutes: 10 }),
+  timeout: Duration.fromObject({ minutes: 15 }),
   fn: async () => {
     await entityProvider.run();
   },
 });
 ```
 
+## Local Development
+
+When working with the `@backstage/backend-tasks` library you may run into your task not running immediately at startup as expected if you are using a persistent database. This is by design - the library respects the previous state and does not run the task sooner than the specified frequency. If you want to get around this, there is a table called `backstage_backend_tasks__tasks` in the applicable plugin's database which will contain a record with the next run date and time. You can delete this record to get things back to what you expect.
+
 ## Documentation
 
 - [Backstage Readme](https://github.com/backstage/backstage/blob/master/README.md)