I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than try to hand-start that, though I know people do it.
Belt starting works, I have done it with the turbax many times. Kavan, I think, sells the belt.
I would not worry TOO much about the nicks on the fan. It should be fine. I've seen and flown worse.
That being said, the RIGHT thing to do, from a safety point of view, now that you have shown the pics, is to replace the rotor. Just in case.
But I would probably throw on a pair of goggles and run it up and see, I really don't think it will be a problem. But I'm not paying the surgery bill if you DO get hurt!
It looks like the nose was cut off the cone to get a starter wand in there, a starter wand is somewhat safer. But the belt will work.