The Mastermind Group You Can Start Yourself Many mastermind groups today are run like expensive, exclusive clubs that you have to be well-connected to access or pay to join, but it doesn't have to be that way. Entrepreneurs, too, can benefit from a mastermind by setting one up themselves -and it doesn't cost a dime.

From its inception, the idea of a mastermind has been linked to the rich and powerful. Author Napoleon Hill in his 1937 book Think and Grow Rich deemed it the "ninth step toward riches" — one leveraged by successful men including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and Thomas Edison.

Hill considerably oversimplifies the path to success and riches, but he was onto something with the idea of a mastermind group, which is simply a group of like-minded individuals who come together to share knowledge and experience.

Many mastermind groups today are run like expensive and exclusive clubs that you have to be well-connected to access or pay monthly fees to participate in. But it doesn't have to be that way. Solopreneurs, start-up founders, small business owners and artist-entrepreneurs, too, can benefit from a mastermind by setting one up themselves — and it doesn't cost a dime.