diff --git a/btas/generic/cp.h b/btas/generic/cp.h
index 8fd42077..f680a08b 100644
--- a/btas/generic/cp.h
+++ b/btas/generic/cp.h
@@ -520,6 +520,18 @@ namespace btas {
       return left_side_product;
     }
 
+    /// Create a rank \c rank initial guess using
+    /// random numbers from a uniform distribution
+
+    template<typename Generator, typename Distribution>
+    Tensor make_random_factor(ind_t row, ind_t col, Generator gen, Distribution dist){
+      Tensor a(row, col);
+      for (auto iter = a.begin(); iter != a.end(); ++iter) {
+        *(iter) = dist(gen);
+      }
+      return a;
+    }
+
     /// \param[in] factor Which factor matrix to normalize, returns
     /// the \c factor factor matrix with all columns normalized.
     /// \return The column norms of the \c factor factor matrix