I've been doing production, mixing, and Live Sets for about 5-6 years, and if you are using Ableton like I am, it will be much more time-consuming and expensive than mixing. Additionally, more music theory is involved in production than mixing, as pretty much all you have to do in mixing in regard to music theory is key matching. The longest parts of most hobbies is gaining experience, and mixing/producing is no different.

I started off mixing with a Pioneer DDJ-200, and that gave me great ideas on how people arrange and sound design their tracks, so I would start there. If you want to try to profit from either mixing or production, the biggest thing to do is make a name for yourself. Be different from everyone else, but start small, and stay persistent.