"Suggestions welcome!", I said initially, leading to problems (9)
I believe the answer is:
nuisances
'problems' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'suggestions welcome i said initially leading' is the wordplay.
'suggestions' becomes 'nuances' (I've seen this before).
'welcome' indicates putting letters inside (in sense of 'inviting in').
'initially' indicates taking the first letters.
'leading' means one lot of letters go next to another.
The first letter of 'said' is 's'.
'i'+'s'='is'
'nuances' enclosing 'is' is 'NUISANCES'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for nuisances that I've seen before include "Pests or irritations" , "problems" , "Annoyances, pains in the neck" .)