How Taha Khan Zai built a focused toolkit for runners
Taha Khan Zai, a Freelance Writer, started Mile Pace Calculator, a free toolkit of 12+ running pace calculators that gives runners pace, time and distance answers. The conversation looks at how a narrow problem, search discovery and a deliberately simple user experience shaped the site.
Start with one small problem and build a free tool that solves it clearly. Add depth one useful feature at a time, rather than trying to cover every topic or add every feature at launch.
What’s the short story of how your business started, and what makes it genuinely different from the other options your customers have?
I started Mile Pace Calculator to solve one narrow problem for runners, working out pace without doing the maths by hand. I built one free tool, kept it free and simple, and published content around it. What makes it different is that it gives one clear answer straight away, an exact pace, with no gated content and nothing overcomplicated.
How did you win your first customers, and where does most of your new business come from today?
The first users came from search, runners looking for a pace answer and finding a tool that gave it straight away. Adding more free tools around the same problem gave them a reason to come back. Most new business still comes the same way, from search, and it is growing steadily, which is reflected in Google Search Console and my social channels.
What’s one decision that changed the direction of your business, and one mistake that taught you the most?
I chose depth over breadth. Instead of building a broad fitness site, I stayed in one niche and added one useful calculator at a time, and let search traffic compound from there. The mistake that taught me the most was letting tools get overcomplicated, with vibe coding adding unnecessary features and unnecessary tips in the UI. It taught me to keep the UI easy to navigate and the answer to one clear thing.
What has changed in your industry or in what your customers expect over the last couple of years, and how have you adapted?
Runners now expect an instant, tailored answer. A useful tool that works straight away wins over gated content, and small focused sites can compete if they solve one problem really well. I adapted by staying focused, keeping the tools free and simple, and publishing consistently instead of trying to cover everything.
If you were advising someone starting out in your industry today, what would you tell them to do first, and what would you tell them to ignore?
Pick one small problem, build one free thing that solves it properly, and publish consistently. Do not try to cover everything at launch, let one good tool earn the traffic first. Ignore the pressure to add every feature and cover every topic, consistency is the key, things start slow and then once they gain momentum, they start to snowball.
Thank you to Taha Khan Zai and the team at Mile Pace Calculator for sharing what actually worked with Leaders Perception readers.
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