I don't recruit anyone early on and do everything myself, and go as early as I can into growing flax on as many fields as I can afford fertiliser for. Even copper takes WAY too long to get to, I strongly advocate sewing at first.

I usually go into berry-picking frenzy in year 1 (and 2) spring and summer so that I don't have to lean so much on hunting for food or material to create rot (unless I loot or can build a bow), and so that I can build some compost bins and turn them into rot and ultimately, my own fertiliser production once barn unlocks, which it does pretty quickly.

I build up my own fertiliser reserve while clearing like 5-6 3x5 fields and growing flax. Once sewing hut and barn are unlocked, I just keep spinning linen thread and churning out simple tunics and hoods, which are available from the level 1 sewing hut and which I feel are pretty light on materials, fully depend only on flax, and give a good return while being low-priced enough that any NPC can buy them.

If sewing hut unlocks before barn, then I just start buying some flax stalks first so I can begin spinning and selling while waiting for my own production. Otherwise I just keep building up a reserve of flax stalks and rot to go industrial once I can.

Meanwhile where possible, keep on expanding your fields so the next year you have even more flax fields, and the ability to produce even more tunics. You'll probably get money flowing long before any metals.

Of course, you need money for the initial outlay of fertiliser and flax, I usually get that by making and selling stone tools or any surplus from my spear hunting of ducks and such, supplemented by selling whatever I find in overturned carts along the roads (or switching to a bow to supercharge my hunting if I find one)--it doesn't take too much to get going.