Author Katri Alatalo turned her dream into reality: launching an online course as a light entrepreneur

For years, author Katri Alatalo dreamed of creating her own online course. The idea was exciting, but the practical side of getting started felt overwhelming. Light entrepreneurship gave her a simple way to begin at her own pace and focus on what mattered most.

Turning your expertise into a product doesn’t always require starting a business or making major investments. For Katri, using Eezy Kevytyrittäjät as a light entrepreneur made it possible to build her online course, sell her expertise, and develop new services without setting up a company.

Katri has published several novels, mainly in the fantasy and young adult genres. Alongside her writing career, she has extensive experience teaching creative writing. Trained as a teacher of Finnish language and literature, she has taught students of all ages, from primary school pupils to university students and adult education learners. Over the years, the idea of creating her own online course gradually took shape.

“I’d been dreaming for a long time about creating exactly the kind of online course I wanted and combining all the things I enjoy doing. As an author, you have a lot of knowledge and experience to share, especially about the writing process”, Katri says.

Building the first online course step by step

In autumn 2025, Katri joined the Verkkokurssisytytin Challenge (in Finnish), a free 10-day online course organised by Campwire, a Finnish online course platform and Eezy Kevytyrittäjät’s partner.

The challenge guides participants through the entire process of creating an online course, from the initial idea all the way to launching and selling it. Along the way, participants receive practical guidance, support, and tools for building and marketing their course.

During the challenge, Katri started creating her first online course for aspiring authors who dream of writing their first novel. At first, the project felt overwhelming, but breaking it down into smaller steps made it much more manageable.

“Starting from scratch and creating all the course material can feel like a huge task. But if you can work through a challenge like this at your own pace, you gradually build the course and eventually get to the point where you can actually start selling it.”

Light entrepreneurship lowered the barrier to getting started

Once the course was ready, the next question was how to sell it and handle invoicing.

Those practical matters had always seemed intimidating, but as a light entrepreneur with Eezy, Katri didn’t need to worry about starting a business or setting up her own invoicing system. For her, one of the biggest advantages was that paperwork never became an obstacle.

Katri’s online course is sold through Campwire, where customers pay using EezyPay. Buyers can browse the course, make their purchase, and pay using their preferred payment method without leaving the page.

In addition to her online course, Katri also offers mentoring and manuscript feedback through Eezy’s light entrepreneurship service.

“When someone buys my course, the payment comes through immediately. Paying with EezyPay is simple and reliable for customers, too. I’ve also invoiced mentoring sessions, and that has been just as easy.”

The freedom to work on your own terms

Writing has always been independent work, and Katri values having the same freedom when developing her online courses and other services. Light entrepreneurship allows her to adjust her workload whenever she wants.

“I enjoy working independently and doing things my own way. If I want to take a break one year, or create a new course another year, I can. If I feel like offering mentoring or manuscript feedback, it’s easy to do.”

At the moment, Katri has one online course available, but she has plenty of ideas for the future. Knowing that she can easily offer new services through the same platform gives her the confidence to keep developing them.

“I have lots of ideas, but I like to develop them at my own pace. As a light entrepreneur, I could offer all kinds of services, such as proofreading.”

According to Katri, light entrepreneurship through Eezy is particularly well suited to people who already have a primary job but also have another skill or idea they’d like to develop further.

For Katri, the most important thing is not letting practical concerns prevent you from taking the first step.

“Once you find the courage to start and realise that you really can do it, it becomes much easier to try new things as well.”