Today, Duke Alexander Moore, 28, is living many a millennial entrepreneur’s dream: he’s found his niche and is profiting handsomely from social media.
Moore, the founder of the seven-figure business Duke Tax, a membership-based tax service for creators, influencers, and entrepreneurs, uses his extensive tax knowledge to create content for his TikTok account @dukelovestaxes, which provides critical tax tips with an entertaining twist to its 3.4 million followers.
However, the road to becoming a multi-millionaire business owner was not easy.
Despite having an entrepreneurial spirit for as long as he can remember (he sold CDs, complete with graphics and labels, in elementary school), Moore found himself at a difficult crossroads after college. “I got in trouble because I was selling things I was not supposed to be selling,” he tells Entrepreneur.
Having a criminal record made it difficult to find work. Moore, 24, had landed a job as a forklift driver in a warehouse in 2014, but he was dissatisfied.
Moore broke down in 2018 after his boss yelled at him for finding a more efficient way to complete a task that wasn’t “the right way,” and realized it was time to strike out on his own.
“At an early age, I was self-taught: taxes, bookkeeping and write-offs.”
Moore understood that in order to succeed, he needed to “become an expert in something.” So he started thinking about what he liked — and was already good at.
Moore has “enjoyed numbers” since he was a child, when he used to play with multiplication machines. He was also familiar with the tax system, having modeled for the Campbell Agency as a teenager, which required him to file as an independent contractor.
“That’s how I originally got involved with taxes,” Moore explains, “because at an early age, I was self-taught: taxes, bookkeeping and write-offs, just learning all that jam.”
Moore, dedicated to his new venture, trained with QuickBooks, Intuit’s accounting software, to become a pro advisor. With that designation, he could be listed in QuickBooks’ directory and receive business.
When one of Moore’s first clients asked for assistance with her taxes, he decided to seek official assistance in that area as well. In 2019, he became an enrolled agent, the IRS’s highest credential.
But in those early days, it still wasn’t enough to make ends meet. “During that period, I experienced homelessness for a couple months,” he says. “It was very, very tough…I slept on the street two or three times, but most of the time I was either sleeping in my truck or at a friend’s house.”
“[TikTok] took me from zero to seven figures.”
Moore, who “refuses to take no for an answer,” wasn’t willing to give up on his business.
At the time, Moore, like millions of Americans, would often scroll through TikTok. And what he discovered on the app would ultimately change the trajectory of his career and life.
“I’ll never forget, I saw this one tax video [on TikTok],” Moore says. “I’m like, Okay, I’m in taxes. I can do that too.”
So he decided to give it a try. Moore started with a tax series, replicating some of what he’d seen on the app. But the content wasn’t sticking, and Moore’s confidence was low. “I was very nervous in front of the camera,” he recalls. “Very shy. It was so bad. I don’t even know how I can just pick up a camera today. It would take me almost a day to record one video.”
Then he began to take a closer look at the kind of content that was performing on the app.
“TikTok is a really entertaining and engaging app,” Moore says. “So when [someone’s] scrolling the For You page, how do you make your video fit in with everyone else’s videos? Could you imagine someone dancing or making a skit, and [then] you have someone like, ‘Hey, you need to file your taxes.’ You’d be like, Oh my God, skip. Block.”
Moore was looking for inspiration to increase the entertainment factor of his content when he came across someone wearing a bath towel on their head. Moore followed suit, putting a towel over his head and continuing to discuss taxes.
The unconventional move was extremely successful. Moore’s account exploded after that, reaching three million followers in just a year and a half. “It took me from zero to seven figures,” he explains.
“[Duke Tax’s] goal is to be your protector and have you pay the least amount of tax possible.”
Moore’s business grew, and it became clear that many CPA firms don’t fully understand content creator taxes. In fact, confusion frequently arises from both sides. According to Moore, many creators are unaware they are running a business; they owe money and are eligible for deductions just like any other business owner.
Moore set out to fill the tax-services void for creators, and Duke Tax now primarily assists them and entrepreneurs with their taxes.
Moore assists creators in behaving like business owners by establishing an entity structure, such as an LLC, and keeping proper books.
“This IRS thing is just a game,” Moore says. “They want to have you pay the most amount of tax possible — that’s the game. [Duke Tax’s] goal is to be your protector and have you pay the least amount of tax possible. There’s not much we can do without bookkeeping.”
Moore also emphasizes the importance of creators reinvesting their earnings, as there is no guarantee that brand deals will continue to come.
Moore understands, perhaps better than most, that no entrepreneurial endeavor is without uncertainty and challenges, but the willingness to persevere — no matter what — is what distinguishes those who succeed.
“My No. 1 lesson I preach at all times is progress, not perfection,” Moore says. “There are so many times we focus on the perfection of things, which [prevents us from] actually getting the thing done. It’s repetition that makes perfection. Go out there and make mistakes. It sounds weird, but every time I make a mistake, I always learn something.”