TikToker earns £30,000 with unqiue side hustle after 'spotting 'gap in market'
A TikTok star has made £30k from his side job cleaning graves - and describes it as "peaceful" and "satisfying".
Shaun Tookey, 30, has spruced up over 100 graves since he started in May 2023. Families pay him between £350 and £450 to tidy up the headstones of their loved ones - a task that can take him up to two hours.
The idea for this unique side job came to him while working as a tree surgeon in a graveyard, wondering who was taking care of the tombstones, reports Wales Online. Shaun, from Hertford, Hertfordshire, said: "I have had the idea for 12 years but I didn't have the funds to start up myself until last year.
"Most of the jobs I do are on weekends or I take time out of my day to go clean a grave. It would be my dream to go full-time with this but I am too scared to jump ship right now. When I am cleaning in a cemetery people will come over to me and say they didn't realise this service existed in the UK. It is such a peaceful and satisfying job - especially when you see the transformations."
He shared: "[When I first had the idea for the side hustle] I didn't have the funds to start up by myself - I was only an apprentice trainee surgeon at the time. I used to work on a lot of trees in the cemetery and one day I was climbing the tree and I just wondered who cleaned them."
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"I saw a gap in the market and it has all paid off." Shaun, who shows his work on TikTok at thegravecleaner, said: "Most of my jobs are through social media, it is such a big platform and my videos are getting a lot better. I also go round posting leaflets and cards. People often come up to me when I'm working in a cemetery and say they didn't know this service existed in the UK," he added.
Families pay him between £350 and £450 to tidy up the headstones of their loved ones (No credit)
He got the side hustle idea while working as a tree surgeon in a cemetery and wondered who was looking after the graves (No credit)Talking about his services, he explained: "It all depends on the type of grave, what sort of lettering it has. Whether or not the family want gold leaf lettering then I can do that and if they just want paint I can supply that. I have my standard rates and I do add-ons."
Mr Tookey cleans two to four graves daily (No credit)
Shaun shows off his work on TikTok and gets new jobs through social media (No credit)Shaun, who cleans two to four graves daily, added: "It can vary, I also don't want to take the mick with how much time off I take. I can do four a day on average but if they are big jobs I can get two done. If it is a headstone I am cleaning then that can take between 30 minutes to an hour but the bigger graves can take a few hours."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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