Strategy Matters More Than Code

We’re entering a phase of technology where implementation is no longer the hard part.

AI has made it faster than ever to build features, prototype ideas, and ship code. What used to take weeks can now happen in hours.

But speed is not the bottleneck anymore.

Decision making is.

The real challenge is choosing the right thing to build and knowing why you are building it. That only comes from experience, context, and understanding how a business actually operates over time.

When Merchants Know Their Business, Development Is Easy

When a merchant has clarity, development tends to go smoothly.

Goals are clear.
Tradeoffs are understood.
Expectations are aligned.

Technical decisions become simpler because they are grounded in real business needs.

Where things break down is when that clarity does not exist.

I have had many clients come to me saying things like, "I worked with another agency and it just did not work out." That feedback is always valid. It usually points to misalignment rather than poor execution.

Earlier in my career, I took that personally. Over time, I realized something important.

Sometimes the problem is not the code.

It is the lack of shared direction.

Doing Exactly What You Are Told vs Helping Decide What to Do

There is a type of developer who will do exactly what you ask.

Pixel perfect.
On time.
On budget.

That can be very valuable if you already know exactly what you want.

But many merchants do not.

They have ideas, not plans.
Hypotheses, not certainty.
Momentum, but not structure.

That is where projects tend to stall.

In those situations, writing code is not the hard part. The hard part is deciding what makes sense right now without boxing the business into a corner later.

AI Makes Implementation Easier and Mistakes Faster

AI has lowered the barrier to building almost anything.

Apps.
Scripts.
Automations.
Custom features.

You can get something working quickly.

But when planning is skipped, those solutions are often fragile.

They work until:

• a product name changes
• a collection structure evolves
• a new sales channel is added
• the business model shifts

That is when complexity creeps in.

Technical debt rarely shows up as a crash. It usually shows up as friction. Extra rules. Workarounds. Quick fixes stacked on top of each other.

Scaling starts to feel heavier than it should.

Pure Coding vs Business Aware Development

A purely execution focused developer can ship code fast.

But Shopify stores are not static projects. They are living systems.

Products change.
Collections evolve.
Marketing strategies shift.
Operations mature.

When development decisions ignore that reality, problems surface later.

Hiring a developer today is not just about technical skill. It is about understanding how merchants grow, how stores change, and how today’s decisions affect tomorrow’s flexibility.

If you have a locked in scope and clear requirements, pure execution can work well.

If you are still iterating, testing, and learning, the real value comes from working with someone who understands both the business side and the technical side.

Strategy Is the Real Multiplier

In the age of AI, speed is common.

Good judgment is not.

The stores that scale cleanly are not the ones that move the fastest. They are the ones that make intentional decisions, understand tradeoffs, and plan before urgency forces their hand.

Code can be rewritten.

Architecture decisions stick.

That is why, now more than ever, strategy matters more than code.