Wendy Williams was building her future. After years of moving around, the Army veteran and registered nurse had settled in a small town in the Florida Panhandle.

“I found my forever home,” she said. “I painted it Euphoric Lilac.”

Ms. Williams had a good job as a sales representative for a medical device company, but wanted to be her own boss. Her dream of financial independence began where it has for countless Americans: an online search for a restaurant franchise to buy.

She was drawn to the patriotic, family-centered brand story of Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, the world’s largest barbecue chain, now with some 300 locations. In 2018, she signed a contract to open two locations and attended Barbecue University, the company’s training program in Dallas.

“I got a 25 percent discount for being a veteran,” she said. “I felt so proud.”

Ms. Williams remained upbeat even after the startup costs for the restaurants she opened in Florida turned out to be more than twice the $250,000 she said Dickey’s sales representatives told her she’d need. Revenues also fell short of projections provided by the company, she said.

“I used my retirement,” she said. “I used my house, I used my rental house, I used my van, my Tahoe — I used it all as collateral.” Ms. Williams claimed more than $1.5 million in losses in her Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in 2023; the bank foreclosed on her forever home last fall.

“I believed in Dickey’s,” she said. “I was lied to.”