fall at the first hurdle

To fail to accomplish some task or goal at the very beginning of the attempt. John had his business plan all laid out, but he fell at the first hurdle when the bank refused to grant him a loan.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Florina	-	Romanian, Spanish, Dutch, Late Roman
Fishel	-	Yiddish
Arnison	['a:nisn]
Fatsani	fah-TSAH-nee	Southern African, Chewa
Silvie	-	Czech
Ahtisaari	[ahtisari:]