KilnGuides
Free plain-English guides for self-employed workers across the UK
Tax, insurance, pricing, rights, safety – explained properly.
No jargon. No paywall. No login.
A growing network of free guidance sites — one for every industry.
Read this first for your industry
Every trade has its own rules, risks and blind spots. Most of it isn't complicated — it's just never explained properly. These are the three guides we'd tell you to read first, whatever industry you're in: tax, insurance and pricing. Get those right and everything else gets easier.
Beauty & Hair
Hairdressers, barbers, nail techs, beauty therapists and aesthetics professionals.
Start with these three — they cover the basics most people get wrong:
- Self-assessment tax
What you owe, when it's due, and what you can claim back.
- Public liability & treatment risk insurance
What you actually need, what you don't, and how much it costs.
- Pricing your services
How to work out what to charge so you're not losing money on every job.
Construction
Builders, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, labourers and subcontractors.
Start with these three — they cover the basics most trades get wrong:
- CIS and self-assessment
How the Construction Industry Scheme actually works and what it means for your tax return.
- Public liability and tool insurance
What cover you need on site, what's optional, and what's a waste of money.
- Pricing jobs and day rates
How to quote properly so you stop undercharging.
Gig & Delivery
Couriers, riders, app-based workers and platform freelancers.
Start with these three — they cover the basics most platform workers get wrong:
- Self-employment tax for gig workers
You're self-employed whether the app tells you or not. Here's what that means.
- Insurance for delivery drivers and riders
Your personal policy won't cover you. This is what you need instead.
- Working out what you're actually earning
After fuel, wear, tax and dead miles — what's really left?
Property & Lettings
Landlords, property investors, Airbnb hosts and HMO operators.
Start with these three — the rules most landlords get wrong:
- Self-assessment for landlords
What rental income to declare, what you can offset, and the deadlines that matter.
- Landlord insurance and HMO cover
What standard policies miss, and what HMOs and short-lets actually need.
- Right to Rent, deposits and Section 21
The legal checks and notices you have to get right, in plain English.
What do you do?
Pick your industry and we'll point you to the right guides
BeautyKiln
LiveFor hairdressers, barbers, nail techs, beauty therapists and aesthetics practitioners
112 guides, 66 templates, 30 tools
Browse BeautyKilnPropertyKiln
LiveFor landlords, property investors, Airbnb hosts and HMO operators
309 guides, 27 templates, 35 tools
Browse PropertyKilnSiteKiln
LiveFor builders, plumbers, electricians, tradespeople and contractors
496 guides, 229 templates, 42 tools
Browse SiteKilnWhat every Kiln site covers
Tax and Self-Assessment — How to register, what you owe, when to file, and how to claim what's yours.
Insurance — What cover you actually need, what's legally required, and what's a waste of money.
Pricing Your Services — How to charge properly, what others charge, and when to raise your prices.
Employment Rights — Your rights as a self-employed worker, including IR35, CIS, and contracts.
Health and Safety — What's legally required for your trade, from risk assessments to PPE and COSHH.
Regulations and Licensing — Which licences, registrations and qualifications apply to your industry.
Client Management — Contracts, deposits, cancellations, complaints, and getting paid on time.
Business Growth — Marketing, hiring, scaling up, and knowing when you're ready.
What is a Kiln Guide?
Every Kiln site is built around long-form, plain-English guides that cover the stuff nobody else explains properly. Not blog posts. Not listicles. Not AI-generated filler. Each guide walks you through a real topic from start to finish — what the rules are, what actually happens in practice, and what to do about it. Here are two examples.
Chargebacks for Small Service Businesses
What really happens when a customer hits 'Dispute'
If you take card payments, you've quietly signed up to a system where the bank can pull money back out of your account weeks after the job is done. A chargeback isn't a refund request — it's your client telling their card company there's a problem, and the card company taking your money first and asking questions later.
This guide covers how the dispute process actually works, why service businesses get hit harder than shops (you sell time and skill, not boxes), what evidence you need to build on every single job, and how to put together a dispute pack that gives you a real chance of winning. It also covers when it's worth fighting and when it's smarter to take the hit and fix your systems.
It's not glamorous. But if you want to keep more of what you earn, this stuff matters.
Why We Tell Small Businesses to Think Twice About Amex
Higher fees, tougher disputes, and a system that wasn't built with you in mind
Amex charges you roughly double what Visa and Mastercard do on every transaction. On a £4,000 wedding fee, that's not a rounding error — it's the difference between a profitable job and working for the card network. And when a client disputes an Amex charge, they can pull the money first and make you prove you deserve it back, under their rules, on their timeline.
This guide lays out exactly what Amex costs you compared to Visa and Mastercard, how their dispute process works differently (and why it's worse for service businesses), and why it is completely reasonable for a small business to say 'we don't accept American Express'. It includes a card policy you can paste straight onto your website — no drama, no apology, just a business decision.
Amex built a system that works brilliantly for cardholders and costs you the most out of any major card network. You don't have to play along.
How KilnGuides works
Always free
Every guide, template and tool. No paywall, no login, no 'premium tier'. Ever.
Plain English
Written by people who've been there. No legal jargon, no HR waffle, no gov.uk copy-paste.
Kept up to date
Tax rates change. Laws change. We update everything so you don't have to check.
Our Partners
Trusted by these businesses across the Kiln network
The Online Accountant
Accounting and tax support across SiteKiln, BeautyKiln and GigKiln
Visit
The Property Accountant
Specialist property tax on PropertyKiln
VisitInterested in becoming a Kiln Network Partner? Get in touch
Frequently asked questions
Why I built this
I spent months dealing with a business dispute and realised something that should have been obvious: the information I needed existed, but it was buried across gov.uk, law firm blogs written for lawyers, and trade body sites locked behind paywalls. If I found it hard to navigate with years of business experience, someone just starting out has no chance.
KilnGuides started as one site for construction workers. Then I realised every self-employed industry has the same problem: the rules are the same, the jargon is the same, and nobody explains any of it in plain English. So I kept building.
Every guide is free. Every template is free. Every tool is free. No paywall, no login, no premium tier. Revenue comes from industry sponsorship, clearly labelled, and never on mental health content. That's it.
Scott Jones
Founder, FTJ Designs
"If I found it hard to navigate with years of business experience, someone just starting out has no chance."
Sponsor a Kiln site
Category-exclusive sponsorship across our network. Already sponsoring one Kiln site? Brands appearing across 2+ Kilns are featured as Network Partners on this page — with direct links to your site from the hub that connects our entire audience.
- •Category-exclusive — one sponsor per topic area, per site
- •Your brand alongside the guides your customers already read
- •No influence over editorial content, ever
We never sponsor mental health content.
Network-wide partnership opportunities available for brands serving all self-employed workers.