Troubles caused by factories starting late (4)
I believe the answer is:
ills
'troubles' is the definition.
('ill' can be a synonym of 'trouble')
'factories starting late' is the wordplay.
'factories' becomes 'mills' ('mill' can be a synonym of 'factory').
'starting late' means to remove the first letter (the word starts later than the beginning).
'mills' with its first letter removed is 'ILLS'.
'caused by' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for ills that I've seen before include "Misfortunes or maladies" , "Evils or sicknesses" , "they're troublesome" , "Ailments, misfortunes" , "Sicknesses or harms" .)