"a mere beginning" is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
You can use it to refer to an event or action that has just started or been initiated, or to something that is still in its early stages. For example: "This is only a mere beginning; we are sure to face even more challenges in the future."
Dewey regarded the convention as the culmination of his effort, rather than as a mere beginning, leaving himself vulnerable to a pugnacious Democrat who refused to believe the polls.
Vogel also saw the festival as a mere beginning: he wanted Lincoln Center to become the site of a year-round film center that would combine a movie theatre, a museum, a research facility, an archive, and a film school that would be the cinematic counterpart to Juilliard.
The Internet today has progressed from being "just a network" through phases as a human communications mechanism and an unrivalled information system to the mere beginning of being a true services network.
While To Kill a Mockingbird undoubtedly deserves its place in the classroom, English teachers may do well to consider that it is a white author's perspective – and ought to be the mere beginning of a dialogue about race and never the final word.
In the Soviet Union, having the cash was the mere beginning of the campaign to acquire the thing.
But what Facebook deployed in 2016 represented the mere beginning of its efforts, Facebook Accessibility Specialist Matt King told me ahead of Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
The deal is done for Ms. Arthur, who has booked the Booth Theater for a mere 48 performances beginning on Jan . 29
With a few exceptions, the photos assembled here span a mere 13 years, beginning in 1927, when Perriand came to Le Corbusier's attention with the sleek metal bar she presented at the Salon d'Automne.
But inflation, which had fallen to a mere 100%, soon began spiralling out of control again.
To Coughlin's right, the digital clock on the scoreboard at University of Phoenix Stadium, visible to him with a mere peripheral glance, began to slowly wind down.
A 13-month-old Doberman pinscher, a mere baby who began his career last month in Florida, upset a floorful of veterans to win the Working group at the 124th annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden.
