To start off at home I ate it roughly (8)
I believe the answer is:
initiate
'to start off' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'home i ate it roughly' is the wordplay.
'home' becomes 'in' ('he's home' can mean 'he's in').
'roughly' indicates an anagram.
'ate'+'it'='ateit'
'ateit' with letters rearranged gives 'tiate'.
'in'+'i'+'tiate'='INITIATE'
'at' is the link.
(Other definitions for initiate that I've seen before include "Launch or induct" , "accept new members" , "Begin - teach" , "Cause (action) to begin" , "Make something begin" .)