My store link is down. What should I do right now?

Check the link on mobile data and ask one customer to open it, so you know it is a real outage and not your own network. Post a story telling buyers you will take orders directly for now, then set up a storefront on a link you control so the next outage does not stop your sales.

How fast can I have a working store back online?

Minutes. Sign up with your phone number, add your UPI ID, list your best sellers, and swap the link in your Instagram bio. There is nothing to code, host or wait on.

Do I lose the orders that were already placed?

Orders placed on another tool stay in that tool and come back when it does. Anything new can be taken on your SmolBusiness store immediately, so you are not choosing between the two on the day it matters.

What happens to money customers already paid?

That depends entirely on where the payment went. If it was collected on your behalf by a platform, it is inside their system until they settle it. On SmolBusiness buyers pay a QR built from your own UPI ID, so their payment arrives in your bank account and no outage sits between you and it.

Is it worth switching over one outage?

Not over one, if payments still reach you and the tool comes back the same day. It is worth switching when outages repeat, when you cannot get an answer about when it will return, or when your money is stuck inside the thing that broke.

Can I run both while I decide?

Yes. Creating a store is free, so you can build one, keep it ready, and switch the bio link only when you need it. Nothing about your UPI ID or your bank changes when you do.

Does SmolBusiness ever go down?

Any platform can. The difference is what is trapped when it happens. Money your buyers have already paid is in your own bank account rather than in a balance waiting to be released, so an outage costs you browsing time rather than working capital.

What does it cost to start?

Free, with no credit card and zero commission on your sales. You get 50 credits once at signup, and a paid order costs credits on a band based on its value: 0 credits on orders up to ₹149, rising to 20 credits on orders above ₹2,499. Top up with a credit pack or move to a paid plan when they run out.

Downtime playbook

Your store link is down. Here is how to keep selling today.

When a DM-selling tool goes down, your bio link stops working and every order in progress stalls, usually during the hours you were counting on. There is a short version and a long version of the fix. The short version is to confirm the outage is real and not your own device, tell buyers where to order in the meantime, and take orders manually until it returns. The long version is to stop renting your only sales channel: put your storefront on a link you control, with payments that arrive in your own account instead of routing through somebody else's system.

Try out for free

No credit card needed · UPI ready · Cancel anytime

Minutes

To get a working store live on your own link

Commission taken from your sales

Direct

Buyers pay your UPI, so payments do not queue

Free

To start, no credit card needed

Why the same outage hurts less on a UPI-first store

Downtime is unavoidable on any platform, including this one. What differs is how much of your business is trapped behind it when it happens.

	SmolBusiness	A typical DM-selling tool
Where your customers' money sits	In your bank. They paid your UPI directly	In the platform's account until it settles
What an outage blocks	New browsing. Money already paid is already yours	Browsing, plus any payout still in the queue
Your store address	Your subdomain, or your own domain when you point one	Usually theirs, so it moves when they do
Getting a second store standing by	Free to create and keep ready	Depends on their plan
Cut taken from each sale	0%, on every plan	Commonly a per-order percentage

Waiting it out, or moving

Wait it out if

✓The outage is clearly on their side and their status updates say it is being worked on.
✓You have no orders in flight and it is a quiet day for you anyway.
✓You have money already collected inside their system that has not settled to you.
✓You are mid-campaign with the link already printed on packaging or paid ads.

Move if

✓This is not the first outage this month and you have already lost a day of sales to one.
✓Your bio link is your only sales channel, so their downtime is a full stop on your revenue.
✓You cannot reach anyone who can tell you when it will be back.
✓Payments collected on your behalf are sitting somewhere you cannot see.

First, work out what is actually broken

Not every dead link is an outage. Two minutes of checking tells you whether to wait it out or move, and it stops you announcing an outage that turns out to be your own connection.

Open the link on mobile data, not WiFi
A link that loads on one network and not another is usually DNS or a captive portal on your side, not the tool. Try it on a phone with WiFi switched off before you tell anyone the store is down.
Ask one customer to try it
You are the least reliable tester of your own store because your browser has it cached and your session is already signed in. A buyer opening it cold sees what everyone else sees.
Check whether the tool's own site loads
If the company's homepage and dashboard are down as well, this is their outage and there is nothing on your end to fix. If their site is fine and only your store link is dead, the problem may be specific to your account, your plan status, or your custom domain.
Look at whether payments are stuck too
An outage that only breaks the storefront is annoying. One that also holds payments already collected on your behalf is a cash flow problem, and it is worth knowing which kind you are in before you decide how long to wait.
Post a story with a fallback
Say the link is temporarily down and give people a way to order anyway. Buyers forgive a broken link. They do not come back after silence.

🏦

Payments cannot be held

Buyers pay a QR built from your own UPI ID, so the money moves bank to bank. There is no settlement queue to be stuck behind when something breaks.

🔗

A link that stays yours

Your store gets its own address for your Instagram bio, with browse, cart, checkout and order tracking. Point your own domain at it when you have one.

📋

Orders in one list

Every order arrives with items, address and payment status in the dashboard, so you are not reconstructing the day from chat history after an outage.

📦

Buyers track themselves

Customers follow their order from placed through packed to shipped on your storefront, which cuts the anxious messages that pile up whenever anything looks broken.

🔒

Checkout is phone-verified

Buyers confirm their number by OTP before an order is created, so panic-era junk orders do not lock up your stock.

💸

Zero commission

No cut on any order. The platform is billed as a seller plan, so what you pay does not scale with how much you sell.

Getting a working store back up

1
Sign up with your phone number
Phone plus an OTP. No password to invent, no credit card, no sales call in between.
2
Add your UPI ID
Paste the UPI ID you already collect payments on. Checkout builds a QR from it, so nothing about how you get paid changes.
3
List your best sellers first
You do not need the whole catalogue today. Put up the products people actually message you about, with photos, prices and stock. AI can draft the descriptions so listing goes faster.
4
Swap the link in your bio
Your storefront lives on its own link. Change the bio, post a story saying orders are open again, and buyers land on a working checkout.
5
Verify payments and ship
Each buyer pays your QR and uploads the payment screenshot. You approve it against the expected amount, mark the order packed, and they track the rest themselves.

Questions, answered

My store link is down. What should I do right now?: Check the link on mobile data and ask one customer to open it, so you know it is a real outage and not your own network. Post a story telling buyers you will take orders directly for now, then set up a storefront on a link you control so the next outage does not stop your sales.
How fast can I have a working store back online?: Minutes. Sign up with your phone number, add your UPI ID, list your best sellers, and swap the link in your Instagram bio. There is nothing to code, host or wait on.
Do I lose the orders that were already placed?: Orders placed on another tool stay in that tool and come back when it does. Anything new can be taken on your SmolBusiness store immediately, so you are not choosing between the two on the day it matters.
What happens to money customers already paid?: That depends entirely on where the payment went. If it was collected on your behalf by a platform, it is inside their system until they settle it. On SmolBusiness buyers pay a QR built from your own UPI ID, so their payment arrives in your bank account and no outage sits between you and it.
Is it worth switching over one outage?: Not over one, if payments still reach you and the tool comes back the same day. It is worth switching when outages repeat, when you cannot get an answer about when it will return, or when your money is stuck inside the thing that broke.
Can I run both while I decide?: Yes. Creating a store is free, so you can build one, keep it ready, and switch the bio link only when you need it. Nothing about your UPI ID or your bank changes when you do.
Does SmolBusiness ever go down?: Any platform can. The difference is what is trapped when it happens. Money your buyers have already paid is in your own bank account rather than in a balance waiting to be released, so an outage costs you browsing time rather than working capital.
What does it cost to start?: Free, with no credit card and zero commission on your sales. You get 50 credits once at signup, and a paid order costs credits on a band based on its value: 0 credits on orders up to ₹149, rising to 20 credits on orders above ₹2,499. Top up with a credit pack or move to a paid plan when they run out.

Your store link is down. Here is how to keep selling today.

Why the same outage hurts less on a UPI-first store

Waiting it out, or moving

Wait it out if

Move if

First, work out what is actually broken

Open the link on mobile data, not WiFi

Ask one customer to try it

Check whether the tool's own site loads

Look at whether payments are stuck too

Post a story with a fallback

Payments cannot be held

A link that stays yours

Orders in one list

Buyers track themselves

Checkout is phone-verified

Zero commission

Getting a working store back up

Sign up with your phone number

Add your UPI ID

List your best sellers first

Swap the link in your bio

Verify payments and ship

Questions, answered

Get your store back online today.

Your next order shouldn't
start with "price? 🙏"

Your store link is down. Here is how to keep selling today.

Why the same outage hurts less on a UPI-first store

Waiting it out, or moving

Wait it out if

Move if

First, work out what is actually broken

Open the link on mobile data, not WiFi

Ask one customer to try it

Check whether the tool's own site loads

Look at whether payments are stuck too

Post a story with a fallback

Payments cannot be held

A link that stays yours

Orders in one list

Buyers track themselves

Checkout is phone-verified

Zero commission

Getting a working store back up

Sign up with your phone number

Add your UPI ID

List your best sellers first

Swap the link in your bio

Verify payments and ship

Questions, answered

Get your store back online today.

Your next order shouldn't start with "price? 🙏"

Your next order shouldn't
start with "price? 🙏"