Making money is child's play

Being a teacher involved too much structure for Leslie Lamm.

She always loved children, but she wanted a job where she could just have fun with them. So she started Play Date, a drop-in child care facility in Rocky Mount. Parents who need temporary child care can drop off their children for up to four hours. The children will play with toys, do the Hokey Pokey, read books, watch movies and generally have a good time until Mom or Dad comes to get them.

Meanwhile, the parents are free to go on a date, to a doctor’s appointment, to the gym or even to a part-time job, Lamm said. The service often is cheaper and easier than finding a baby sitter, she said, with prices at $6.50 an hour for the first child, $3 for the second and third and $1 for four or more.

“I think I have made a pretty huge difference to the parents that use me. They tell me all the time they don’t know what they would do without me because it is just so convenient,” Lamm said.

Q: What services or products do you provide?

A: We provide drop-in childcare. Basically, it is the same as a day care except you only bring them when you need us to watch them and you only pay us when you are here.

Q: Who are your key leaders?

A: Me.

Q: How many people do you employ?

A: Eight.

Q: When were you established?

A: August 2007.

Q: What’s your business philosophy?

A: We are a child care center that provides flexibility and accommodation for parents and at the same time promoting sensory and motor learning for children.

Q: What makes your business unique?

A: That it is drop in. You don’t have to have an appointment. You can just bring your children whenever you feel necessary, drop them in, pick them up when you are done and only pay for the time they are here. I think that is a really unique concept.

Q: Why did you pick Rocky Mount as a place to do business?

A: There wasn’t one in Rocky Mount, so I felt like Rocky Mount needed something like that.