In Test-Driven Development (TDD), the process starts with writing tests before writing the actual code. The primary purpose of running tests before writing the code is to ensure that the tests fail initially. This failure demonstrates that the tests are correctly identifying the absence of the desired functionality or the presence of bugs. Once the tests are verified to fail for the expected reasons, the developer then writes the minimal code necessary to pass the tests, ensuring that the new functionality works as intended and that the codebase is continuously tested.