There’s a brief moment before every beginning that’s often overlooked.

The moment before the plans are set, before any investments are made, or a logo is hung. Before there are words to describe a business model, top-selling products, or a five-year plan. It’s the moment where you’re standing in the middle of an idea that doesn’t yet have proof, shape, or certainty. All it has is intention.

Starting from scratch is less about boldness and more about resolve. It’s not the first step that defines the beginning—it’s the commitment needed to continue when the work is unfinished, unglamorous, and still largely invisible.

If you’re honest with yourself, this is usually the part where doubt shows up first.

Every new endeavor begins with gaps—gaps in knowledge, in funding, in certainty, in infrastructure. Starting from scratch means accepting those gaps without letting them slow you down. It means understanding that clarity often comes from motion, not the other way around. (Repeat: clarity comes from motion!)

But remember:

You don’t need to have everything figured out to get started.

Any endeavor requires more support than you expect.

Support doesn’t always look like loud cheerleading.

Gathering your tools also means gathering your community.

You will need to make peace with being a beginner. But being a beginner isn’t a weakness—it’s a requirement.

At Laboratory, we’ve shared parts of the physical build—the walls, the fixtures, the tangible markers of something coming together. Those pieces matter, and they’re still in motion. But the deeper work happens before and alongside all of that.

It happens in the conversations where ideas are tested.
In the trust built between collaborators.
In the decisions made without certainty, but with consideration.

If you’re like us, standing at the beginning of something new, know this: we don’t need to build our vision alone. We just need to start—with intention, with support, and with the understanding that growth is something you build together, one steady step at a time.

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