In other areas the process seems to have hardly begun.

The day had hardly begun and already he was ahead.

Peter could hardly begin to imagine what was going on.

Serious work on this kind of site has hardly begun.

My life had hardly even begun and now it seemed all over.

Other countries in the region have hardly begun to consider this.

Although we have made some progress, the job has hardly begun.

She felt tired already, though the day had hardly begun.

The world was something she had hardly begun to discover.

So the mission wasn't over after all; in fact, it had hardly begun.