starting from scratch

基本解释

If you are starting from scratch you are always failing until you succeed.
如果你从零开始，那么你总是失败的，除非你获得成功。
In dealing with this situation, we do not have the luxury of starting from scratch.
在处理这类情况时，我们没有可以从头开始的有利条件。
When something goes wrong, it's regarded as a mystery that might only be solved by starting from scratch.
如果某件事出错了，就会把它当成一个谜，可能只有通过从零开始才能解决它。

In dealing with this situation, we don't have the luxury of starting from scratch.
WHITEHOUSE: President Obama: Our Security, Our Values
Starting from scratch, Bill Sr. began experimenting with a recipe that would produce a smoother whisky.
FORBES: Making 46: Maker's Mark Produces First New Bourbon In Half A Century
For countries starting from scratch, Singapore's fully funded pension scheme offers a more promising model.
ECONOMIST: Asia’s new jobless

白手起家
The large change of competing environment and mode lessens the chance of starting from scratch, at the beginning of planning economy transforming period, those entrepreneurs who have finished their primitive accumulation depending on individual courage and braveness, finding that they are incapable of governing commercial opportunities by their experience before.
竞争环境和方式的巨大变化，使白手起家的机会越来越少，在计划经济转型初期凭个人勇气和胆识完成原始资本积累的企业家们发现，用以前成功的经验去把握这些商机显得越来越力不从心了。