A solo founder sells courses with Coursebox's Shopify integration

Discover how Eli Goor, founder of One of a Mind, uses Coursebox to turn what he knows into online courses and sell them from a branded Shopify store.

Eli Goor wanted to build an independent online course business, one that would not require his constant physical presence. He serves in the military reserves in Israel, where a call-up can mean stepping away from everyday life and responsibilities, sometimes unexpectedly and for extended periods.

There was a second reason that mattered just as much to him. He had always wanted, in his words, to "create something of my own, share the experiences and lessons I've learned throughout my life", and to turn them into something that helps other people.

It also had to be built by 1 person starting from nothing, with no course platform, no store and no team, so every part of a course business, from the research to the delivery, would fall to him. That left 3 requirements for whatever he chose to build on:

• Ownership, because he wanted to run a business rather than hold a job
• A platform that could carry his educational philosophy, that every learner deserves the freedom to find their own path
• Technology that would grow with him instead of generating more manual work

AI tools were improving fast enough that a business like this had started to look buildable by 1 person, and he came across Coursebox while exploring what they made possible.

Every course starts from the philosophy behind the brand, which Eli puts in 2 short sentences: "There isn't one right way. There's only your way." His courses come from what he has lived through himself, and they give learners ideas, perspectives and room for reflection so they can discover what feels right for them. Boundaries with Grace, one of his favourites, is about setting boundaries without feeling guilt.

He builds each course in Coursebox, in modules of 3 lessons that each close with a quiz and an assignment. The 2 features he names as his favourites are the AI Tutor and AI-powered assignment assessment, because learners can ask questions, engage with the material, reflect on their understanding and receive feedback. "I love how they help make learning more interactive and personal," he says. Before a course is published he takes it himself, to experience the learning journey from the learner's perspective: "I don't just let the AI do all the work for me. Every course that I make I also take it myself."

The store came later, and he had not planned one at all. When Coursebox released its Shopify integration, Travis, one of the Coursebox founders, told him about it personally, and he started using it straight away. Soon afterwards he bought a domain and, as he puts it, "started really turning this into an actual brand".

Today oneofamind.org is where every course is sold. The courses are grouped into collections, a short interactive guide helps a visitor find the course that fits them, each course has its own page where the buyer pays through Shopify, and a weekly journal that he treats as a magazine sits alongside them. "It's really more than just a store," he says. "It's a whole brand."

The plan 2 years ago was to make online courses, and a branded store was no part of that plan. Today One of a Mind is a brand with a store, a journal and a catalogue he keeps adding to, with the aim of launching a new course every month. "Now I create courses that I'm really proud of and that have demand," he says.

He answers the people who write to him through the store himself, and says he cares for his customers the way the Coursebox team has cared for him. Whenever he was unsure how to do something, the team was willing to book a meeting and show him one on one, and what made him stay "was how loyal and caring the Coursebox team has been".

Ahead of him is a wider set of digital learning experiences built on the same idea the business started with, that there is no single right way and every learner finds the one that fits.