
From scratch
New Beginnings
 Used when something is being done for the first time or being restarted without prior progress. 
After the fire, they had to rebuild their house from scratch.
 No Shortcuts
 Implies a process that does not rely on existing work or shortcuts; everything is done manually. 
He programmed the entire app from scratch.
 Hard Effort
 Suggests significant effort because starting from zero can be more challenging. 
Writing her thesis from scratch was a daunting task.