The phrase "a challenging start" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to describe a difficult beginning to a situation, project, or experience.
Example: "Despite a challenging start, the team managed to overcome the initial obstacles and achieve their goals."
Alternatives: "a tough beginning" or "a difficult onset".
Thereafter sales were negatively affected by unseasonably hot weather which continued into September, resulting in a challenging start to the autumn season.
Watching the mother-calf pair in front of us, it seems like a challenging start to life, dodging between amorous males, whale-watching vessels, ferries, cruise ships and even well-intentioned researchers.
Mike van Dulken at Accendo Markets said: Tate & Lyle is today's Tesco after delivering a profits warning linked to a challenging start to the year following supply chain disruption and increased competition.
Nick Compton is taking an indefinite break from cricket following what the England batsman's county side, Middlesex, have described as a "challenging start to the 2016 season, both physically and mentally".
Jim Balsillie, co-chief executive, said the fiscal year had "gotten off to a challenging start" and the slowdown the company experienced in the first quarter was continuing into the second quarter.
Things get off to a challenging start when you're immediately bitten by a zombie, but then a bunch of bedraggled survivors rescue you and take you back to their safe house.
Voided urine obtained immediately after DRE is greatly enriched in prostatic cells (about 80%) and thus represents a challenging starting material for biomarker discovery in oncological research.
For NHS commissioners, this has proved to be a very challenging starting point for the equitable commissioning of local NHS primary care dental services.
What a guy! Legally deaf since youth, coming from a home where he and his mother were beaten by his father, volunteering to fight in the Second World War at the age of 17, one shudders to think what your average modern luvvie would make of this challenging start to life.
To make this exercise less challenging, start very slowly and avoid dipping down too low.
To make this exercise less challenging, start off on your knees rather than with your body on top of the ball.
