I have a friend getting into the food business. What's your best advice?

Best advice is do something else. Food service is a demanding and relentless game. unless you are completely prepared to lose every dollar you put in then don't do it. I'm not saying you will lose it, but you can, very easily. 

You say your friend is "getting into " the industry? so they have no practical experience in food service? then he is probably already finished. It takes years of working in the industry to appreciate the lifestyle of sacrifice and grueling hours, lost holidays and high stress before you could even consider owning your own company.

This business is not for the un-initiated or the faint of heart. none of the options you have listed above have any chance of being profitable or cost effective unless your friend has an amazing concept, twice as much money as he thinks he needs and is willing to sacrifice all his time and efforts to the project 24/7 without regard to personal relationships, friends and family. then he might have a 50-50 chance of succeeding. good luck.

Take some classes about setting up a food business, work in a restaurant or place that you want to open before doing it as a business. Even the very best Chef's don't make it. Partner up with someone. Collaborate. Listen to @Stuart Abrams from L'Ambroisie it's  very true.  The Health department basically controls if you have a business or not.  Everyone has given some great advice.  Good Luck!

I see a lot of people trying to tell your friend not to do this. I'd say, follow your dreams but be prepared. Just because it didn't work out for someone else, it doesn't mean it won't work out for your friend. This industry IS very competitive and demanding, but so are all other industries. He or she has to know exactly what's involved. Money, time, skills, commitment. I assume they already enjoy cooking and food. My husband has always wanted to be in the food business as well and is going with a franchise. He's been doing a lot of reseach to find the best options for us. My nephew is a chef and recenlty split from his restaurant to go on his own and do catering. He's in a very good area with high paying clients, so things are going well for him. He has a very specific concept as well. There are pros and cons to everything. Good luck to your friend. 

I will start by saying that food business takes lots of dedication and commitment and sacrifice. If you think this is for you then I continue. Online ordering is today's business to go for, since people like the practical shopping, and at your convenience. You definitely need the MAPAQ licence for hygiene which you can take online and get certified.

Food truck is very much fun considering you work in the weekends at festivals and get off a day or two during the week, yet you need your MAPAQ certificates and of course certificate of occupation. With food truck business you will make fast money, on the other hand it is only seasonal, you don't have business in the winter.

Restaurant is stable,fun, creative, well appreciated if you have good food, but the hardest of all, with long hours and 7 days every week, costly, needs lots of patience and takes longer till you see it become self sufficient financially.

Licences take same time to process. Good luck with your choice.

My best advice?

Tell your friend to work in the food business for a minimum of two years before trying to start or run a business there. And your friend should work in a place as similar as possible to what she's planning to do. For example, if she's planning on operating a Mexican food truck, she ought to find a job with a food truck, not an upscale bricks-and-mortar restaurant.

From your question, it appears your friend doesn't even know whether he/she wants to operate a food truck, a small restaurant, or offer online catering. That's a guaranteed recipe for disaster.

Tell you what. Tell him/her to get a job in a small restaurant. If that doesn't work out well, then your friend should work in a food truck operation. I definitely would advise starting out with online catering. (There's no low-risk way to get the experience that's necessary.)

dont do it.

90 % plus of people lose their ass.

margins are too thin

competiton is brutal

work is way too hard for the average person.

ways to fail are many

ways to suceed are few.

even if you do ok chances are the landlord will screw you when its time to re up the lease.

there is no easy money in food. period.

dont do it.

best advice:  don't get into the food business....

Depends on the kind of food business

Is it a grocery store, a restaurant, wholesale food distributor, etc ?

You will likely see the licensing cost about the same. What varies is the license approval based on food safety and sanitation plan, that can get complicated depending on the type of food categories. Regardless of the option you choose, you will need to go through the license approval process. 

I would also recommend to consider your main customer and that usually help to segregate what you need. Having a permanent location, restrict customers that you could reach while the food truck give you flexibility to move around. 

Tell him to work for a restaurant for 3 years and see if he still wants to dive into the deep water after he gains some experience.