A year's start (7)

I believe the answer is:

january

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'start' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both related to time as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'a year's' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is present in the answer.
'year' could be 'y' and 'y' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for january that I've seen is " First month".)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.