Is it worth spending the money on lightroom/editing programs in the short term if I want to start trying to be a for commission photographer?

I might be jumping the gun a little as I'm still fairly new to photography, and I am going to take some time to learn and just enjoy my newfound interest before doing anything crazy. But while I'm doing so, should I spend the money and time on learning how to edit RAW photos as well? I started on film, and shortly will be getting a DSLR as well. For some context as to why I'm considering becoming a for commission photographer is that another of my hobbies is LARP, Live Action Role Play. Nerdy I know. But something I've experienced and several others I've talked to is that due to bad luck, lack of conventional attractiveness/expensive gear that looks good, lack of familiarity with the current set of event photographers, etc is that there can be a lack of good or any kind of photos from events. Having experienced it personally and how much that sucks I was thinking if I ever got to a passable level of skill to offer for cheap, or honestly even free if it comes down to it, as I've been both broke and pictureless, that people can walk away with some decent portraits at least from an event.

But as to that, I've been learning more about digital and the differences between JPEGs, and RAW files. That Jpegs are basically pre processed and then compressed by the camera built in programming, and RAW is just that the raw uncompressed data of the picture. Seemingly RAW is better for later editing if what I've learned is correct, or at least preferred for it. I'm not wholly sure its worth the extra headache since I at least hope whoever designed the camera's processing of JPEGs probably has a lot more skill and knowledge then me about how to make a photo look good. What are your people's opinion on it?