OK, first, what the heck is a strategic plan? A strategic plan documents your purpose for being, who you are, where you want to go and how you intend to get there over the long term. The plan maps out short and long-range goals of the company and what actions of management will have to take place to reach those goals. It states what is important to you and how you will leverage those values to be successful. It articulates the key philosophies, concepts, ideas and directions which, when put into effect, profoundly shape the nature of your business. For this reason, your strategic plan should be carefully thought through.

So what is in it? A Strategic Plan consists of a strategic vision & business mission, strategic & financial performance objectives and a comprehensive set of strategies for achieving the objectives. 

On to what makes a good strategic plan ... The same thin that makes a good map. A good map actually gets you to where you want to go. A good strategic plan is a map that actually takes your company where you want it to go.

What else makes a good plan? Most importantly, one that is actually implementable. What does that mean? Here are a few characteristics of an implementable plan:

• First, your entire management team are in agreement as to where the company is going and how it is going to get there.
• Second, those people that are responsible for executing portions of the plan are invested in the plan -- they know that there are personal riches in store for achieving the plan and pains for not doing so.
• Third, everyone responsible for the plan is accountable to someone else and there are ramifications if the tasks are not completed.
• Fourth, timelines and resources are realistic -- no one will perform if they think that they are already set up for failure.

The short answer to "What makes a good strategic plan?" is:
A good strategic plan is one that you can actually execute and when you do, you will get to where you had planned to go.